Before they introduced the world to Eric Cartman and friends, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were hired by Universal to create a "training video" geared toward boosting team moral after Seagram's company bought the studio back in 1995. However, at the time, no one knew who Parker and Stone were, let alone the fact that they were complete maniacs. What followed was a hilarious (and, as far as Universal was concerned, unusable) training video starring folks like Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, James Cameron, Michael J. Fox, Demi Moore and Angela Lansbury, among others.
If you're one of those people looking for a few laughs on a crummy Monday afternoon, then this is sure to do the trick ... if only to watch Speilberg act as a tour guide traveling through the Jaws attraction. Enjoy! (Note: Due to foul language, this video is potentially NSFW.)
Actor/director George Clooney was "toasted by a host of fellow stars" at a lavish benefit held last Friday for American Cinematheque, a not-for-profit organization in Los Angeles that, since 1981, has supported film -- the kind of film not always available to a wide audience. American Cinematheque brings audiences a truly impressive array of film from a wide variety of cinematic niches, nooks and crannies. A peek at their calendar reveals such delectable and diverse events as "New Argentine Cinema," "Russian Fantastique Cinema, "Cinema Italian Style," "An Evening with Christopher Nolan," a screening of Al Jolson's 1936 film The Singing Kid, and a Halloween screening of a 70mm print of Ghostbusters! And that's just in October.
Since 1986, American Cinematheque has held a fundraiser at which it honors "an extraordinary artist (actor, director or writer) in the entertainment industry, who is fully engaged in his or her work and is committed to making a significant contribution to the art of the motion picture." The first honoree was Eddie Murphy; subsequent artists honored by American Cinematheque are: Bette Midler (1987); Robin Williams (1988); Steven Spielberg (1989); Ron Howard (1990); Martin Scorsese (1991); Sean Connery (1992); Michael Douglas (1993); Rob Reiner (1994); Mel Gibson (1995); Tom Cruise (1996); John Travolta (1997); Arnold Schwarzenegger (1998); Jodie Foster (1999); Bruce Willis (2000); Nicolas Cage (2001); Denzel Washington (2002); Nicole Kidman (2003), Steve Martin (2004) and Al Pacino (2005).
Benefit co-chairs included Matt Damon, Ethan and Joel Coen, Sydney Pollack, Steven Spielberg and the Weinsteins (although I kinda doubt that in this case the co-chairs were spiking the fruit punch and scotch-taping crepe paper streamers to the rafters of the high school gym, which is the visual that phrases like "benefit co-chairs" bring to my mind), and ticket prices ran $550 a pop. With 1,200 or so stars expected to be in attendance at the time of the press release, the event is American Cinematheque's primary fundraiser, supporting maintenance of the org's two theaters, The Egyptian and The Aero, as well as funding programming throughout the year.
It's great to see the stars come out to support the kinds of films most people will only get to see if they attend film school or go to a lot of film festivals; American Cinematheque, like Film Forum in New York City and Northwest Film Forum here in Seattle, makes it possible for the average cinephile to have access to some amazing films, both new and old. Cinematical recently brought on board two LA-based writers, so look for us to start covering American Cinematheque events along with our Film Forum and Northwest Film Forum coverage, fellow film buffs.
After she finishes directing Things We Lost in the Fire, Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier will tackle an adaptation of Amanda Foreman's novel, Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire. Simply called The Duchess, pic tells a story of "politics, wealth, and intrigue of late-eighteenth-century aristocracy through the intimate story of a woman who was its leader." Bier also directed the Danish film Open Hearts, which Zach Braff is supposed to direct at some point in the very late future.
The cast for Lajos Koltai's Evening just got a whole more interesting. Hopping onboard the project are Meryl Streep and Mammie Gummer. Mother and daughter in real life, the two will play the same character at different phases in her life. Also joining this list of amazing female actresses (which already included Vanessa Redgrave, Toni Collette and Claire Danes) are Glenn Close and Eileen Atkins.
While there's no direct quote from the man, according to a few different sources Steven Spielberg may be interested in directing the next Jurassic Park flick himself. Though Joe Johnston (who directed part three) is Spielberg's first choice to helm, if for some reason he cannot do it then Stevie will take on the task. What does this mean for Indiana Jones 4? Hell if I know, but it can't be good.
This year's Kennedy Center Honors have been announced, and they are: film director Steven Spielberg; singer/actress Dolly Parton; singer Smokey Robinson; composer Andrew Lloyd Webber; conductor Zubin Mehta. What an eclectic group that is, and just imagine what kind of project the five of them could collaborate on. If I was in charge of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, I sure would make that part of the ceremony; let them meet and then give them a year with which to work together on something to be shown at the next annual Honors. Unfortunately, I'm not in charge. So, the five honorees will simply receive their accolades at the ceremony, which will be hosted by Condoleezza Rice and attended by the President and First Lady, on December 3rd (to be taped and later broadcast on CBS).
Anyway, just for fun, who can think up the best ingredients to the never-to-exist partnering of these five artists? I'll make it harder: No Bible stories, no lyrics that reference tears, no aliens or war stories and no mention of Dolly's body parts.
I've mentioned 30 or 40 times here that I'm a huge history nerd -- I've got several massive piles of hardback (I did say HUGE nerd) bios and histories scattered around my apartment, and (get this) I actually read them. In the middle of one of those piles is a book called Son of the Morning Star, which tells the story of 1876's Battle of Little Bighorn and the major players in the fight -- and it turns out that I'm not the only one who's got Little Bighorn on the brain. Variety reported this morning that Universal picked up the rights to a spec script about "three U.S. Army scouts who are the first to arrive at the horrifying aftermath of the battle ... and then take on the grueling assignment of tracking down the Sioux leader, Crazy Horse." Nice.
The script -- by Matthew Sand -- is based on a novel called American By Blood, by Andrew Huebner. The novel was actually optioned several years ago, and Steven Spielberg himself had plans to direct the film version. The script never came together, though, and when the rights lapsed, Huebner was so turned off by the whole process that he vowed never to sell them again. But then Sand came calling, and he was just sooooo fired up about the story that Huebner relented (Either that or he saw dollar signs again, and couldn't resist.), and let Sand himself buy the rights. Sand's script created a fair amount of big studio buzz, so hopefully Universal will make this one a priority.
Well, I then came across this post at FilmRot that talks about the upcoming DVD release of those same Star Wars films, minus the latest Lucas tinkering. Sure, they won't be remastered, but the fans are finally getting what they've wanted for such a long time: Star Wars, as it originally appeared in the theater. Fabulous! However, seeing as 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode IV on the big screen, we're now hearing more about plans for an additional DVD set to arrive in stores at some point next year. Yes, more Star Wars!
According to FilmRot via DigitalBits, " Well, we've confirmed it: There IS a big, ultimate, 6-film Star Wars anniversary DVD box set planned for 2007. There will be more changes to the films, and there will be LOTS of new, never-before-seen special features -- all the good stuff that was held back by Lucasfilm from the original Trilogy DVD release a few years ago. Think deleted scenes and more." Sounds super, but seeing as this the ULTIMATE boxset, does that mean those original Star Wars versions will be included too? If so, why should we shell out our hard-earned cash next month, when they will appear in a glorious boxset later on in 2007? What will you do?
Says Lucas, "We're basically going to do The Phantom Menace. People's expectations are way higher than you can deliver. You could just get killed for the whole thing ... We would do it for fun and just take the hit with the critics and the fans. The 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation has freed up an idea for a plot that was originally deemed too incendiary." Lucas goes on to talk about a "controversial" McGuffin the boys came up with awhile back that, at first, they were hesitant to take on. Now, though, it seems they are going ahead with it (whatever "it" is), minus the offending parts. I know, it's not much to go on, but it definitely piques my interest. What can be so controversial? An artifact from the holocaust? Lucas also noted they're eying production to start in mid-2007, with a release happening in 2008.
According to reports in the Chinese press, something crazy is brewing in the camps of a couple of, well, vaguely important directors. Steven Spielberg and Zhang Yimou -- two guys with whom you movie nerds might be familiar -- supposedly have vague plans to co-direct a screen version of Journey to the West, a four-volume Chinese fantasy novel written during the Ming Dynasty. Uh ... wha?
While it's true that the two men know one another -- Spielberg visited the set of Zhang's The City of Golden Armor earlier this year and is a consultant on Zhang's upcoming work with the 2008 Olympics -- this sounds almost too outrageous to be true. It'd be a fun adventure for them to work together, sure, but co-directing what would have to be a major film just for kicks sort of defies all logic, doesn't it? Though masses of curious people would inevitably see such a collaboration, the cost of these two bringing a fantasy epic to screen would most likely be massive -- what studio would take that risk?
Well, here's the good news: Both men are too busy now for this project to develop before 2008 or 2009, so it can continue to exist in the happy world of "Hey, this might happen!", allowing us to spend time imagining just how visually insane a collaboration between Spielberg and Zhang would be.
[via Kaiju Shakedown] Edit: According to the rapidly backtracking producer with whom the story originated, everything has just be misinterpreted. "He means the if Zhang Yimou and Steven Spielberg were doing a movie, they should pick a Eastern subject such as Journey to the West." Yeah, that sounds like "They've talked about making this movie" to me, too.
I remember when Steven Spielberg'sJaws first hit DVD, and one of the supplemental materials was a fantastic one-hour "making of" documentary that all the shark nerds were trashing. Why trashing? Because the doco was originally over two hours in length, but was trimmed in half for the DVD release. And then, five years later, Universal unleashed a 30th Anniversary Edition of Jaws that contained the entire documentary ... and it was good. (Very good, actually.)
But apparently not good enough for one particularly passionate group of Jaws fanatics, so after spending some time at the 30th Anniversary celebration at Marth'a Vineyard last year, they went out and decided to make their own Jaws documentary. And not only is the flick almost finished, but it's reported to clock in at about 3 hours in length! Yowza! What could a bunch of Jaws junkies use to fill three whole doco hours?
After hearing so much about what he may or may not do in the future, Steven Spielberg finally set the record straight himself during a brief interview given right before the director received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF). First off, Spielberg debunked rumors he was interested in directing a film-version of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, saying he's never been approached about it and, even if he was, would decline because it's "not his thing."
Next, Spielberg briefly touched upon Indiana Jones 4, noting the script is still in development, with David Koepp fine-tuning what we all hope is the final draft. (Why do I feel like I'll be repeating that line for the next several months?) Hey, at least Jurassic Park 4 is moving ahead at a quicker pace. Though IMDb lists its director as Breck Eisner, Spielberg insists Joe Johnston (who directed Jurassic Park 3) has first dibs on the sequel. More dinosaurs! Yay!
As far as that whole Kip Thorne-inspired sci-fi project Spielberg was working on, it's been given the title Interstellar and, like the rest of his films, is currently in development. When asked how close it was to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Spielberg said Interstellar is nothing like 2001, but didn't provide any further details as far as plot goes. Oh, and what about poor old Abe Lincoln? Is it dead? Well, he's dead, but is the project still alive? Yes it is. The script is being written and Spielberg hopes production will start somewhere around September or October of 2007. However, the big question on everyone's mind is "Will Abe Lincoln go before Indy 4?" Unfortunately, Spielberg could not answer. Yeah, I'd wave bye bye to another Indy adventure in summer 2008.
Want to know what Karen Allen is up to these days? Ask her yourself. Want to know what it was like working with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford? Ask her yourself. Want to know if the rumors are true about her showing up in Indiana Jones 4? Ask her yourself. Seriously. Karen Allen is doing a Q&A at the Paris Theatre this weekend after screenings of Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which she co-stars as love-interest Marion Ravenwood. The screenings take place Friday night and Saturday night at 10pm and tickets are $10.50 (order them on Moviefone now, before they sell out).
Even if Raiders wasn't such a great film, and a huge blockbuster hit, Allen would still be an interesting actress to go and see. Other seminal films she's starred in include Animal House, Starman, Scrooged and The Sandlot(if you don't believe The Sandlot is a seminal film, you don't know enough people under the age of 25). She'll probably be limiting the discussion to Raiders, though, so make sure to think of questions about that film only. Don't worry, I'm sure you can prepare a bunch.
Following back-to-back films in 2005, director Steven Spielberg is taking some time off, or so he says. However, the past few weeks have been filled with rumors surrounding which project the man will take on next. Even with its instability, Indiana Jones 4 is all but a lock to begin filming sometime in 2007, with a projected release date of summer 2008. Okay, so is it safe to say Indy 4 will be his next pic? Can Steven Spielberg really go almost three years without a film in theaters?
If not, then perhaps one of several Spielberg-linked projects currently in development will slide in between now and Harrison Ford riding off into the sunset ... again. Well, that's if you don't count his reality television show, On the Lot. Honestly, Spielberg is just as involved with that project as I am involved with Ryan Seacrest's personal life. And if you've read this blog long enough, then you know exactly how involved that is.
So, if Spielberg does decide to squeeze a film out of his, er, brain sometime in 2007, which one will it be? Seeing as Indy 4 will travel the summer blockbuster route, could Stevie go with a smaller, character driven piece ala Munich? Ooohh, or will he go totally indie on us and spit out some tiny, $3 million festival pic? In case you've missed all of the current possibilities, let me recap:
First up, we have the untitled Abraham Lincoln biopic that's been on hold for quite sometime now. Pic, which was supposed to star Liam Neeson, might be a nice, quiet film with Oscar potential.
Next we have this untitled Kip Thorne-inspired sci-fi film in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey. This seems as if it is a bit too ambitious to take on before Indy 4. And, not for nothing, but Spielberg's last two sci-fi films weren't all that spectacular.
And, last but not least, according to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, there's another film peaking Spielberg's interest. This one is based off a script by Rod Lurie and revolves around the "glitzy New York media world." I have no idea what this is about, but I do enjoy the word 'glitzy' and feel people should use it more often.
So, I ask you: Which project should Steven Spielberg direct next? Indie or blockbuster? Should he focus all his energy on Indy 4 or attempt to squeeze out one of the above mentioned films beforehand?
Just the other day, I told you about make-up man Stan Winston's new project titled The Deaths of Ian, in which a guy gets murdered, only to wake up and find himself dying a different way each day. Well, now apply that idea to Valentine's Day, add a woman to the mix and cut out all the death. Dreamworks has just picked up a romantic comedy pitch from Don Handfield which centers around a couple who must keep re-living Valentine's Day until they "get it right." Handfield, who also goes by the nickname "Groundhog Day rip-off man" sold the pitch for low to mid-six figures.
Just when you thought he was taking a year off and settling down with a more independent main course, Steven Spielberg is reportedly taking on directing duties for the film World of Warcraft, based off the popular video game. (Now, before you cut my throat over the use of the words 'video game', I'll just do what Mark did and call it a MMORPG. There. Happy now? Can you tell I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to this stuff?) Spielberg adapting a video game? Something doesn't feel right about this. If true, this would mark his fourth planned project, following Indiana Jones 4, some Abraham Lincoln thing and some Kip Thorne-inspired sci-fi thing. (Note: JoBlo says their source here is Variety, though I couldn't find the story anywhere. Hmm, perhaps they're still riding high off that Wonder Woman joke. C'mon boys -- own up.)
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jonathon at JoBlo very nicely let us know that this whole Spielberg-directing Warcraft thing was a hoax. Thanks for letting us know, Jonathon!)
After the good folks at Netflix turned down an idea in which they literally had representatives come to your house, decide which movie you should watch, go out and get said movie, put it in your DVD player, push play and control the remote for you, they've instead decide they want to release a set-top box that does the exact same thing. The whole idea is for you to be able to download movies overnight without ever having to do anything except push a button, and the service could launch as soon as later this year. Next up from Netflix: Toilet in a couch. Look it for it sometime in 2008 -- I guarantee it.
Oh, happy day: Forbes has released their list of the 100 most powerful celebrities in the universe US! Thank goodness someone is around to quantify just how important everyone in Hollywood is -- what would we do without a ranking for, say, Steven Spielberg? (He's sixth. Don't you feel better now?) Because I'm sure you're all holding your breath in collective anticipation, I'll end the suspense: Tom Cruise is #1. Woo hoo! It's so nice to know that famous people don't suffer for being crazy.
Other Hollywood names (conveniently collected here and here) on the list include Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie who, at the end of what I'm sure is a very complicated mathematical process, found themselves -- gasp! -- with exactly the same power ranking!* No manipulation there, right Forbes? Their man Brad Pitt, meanwhile, beats them both by coming in at #20. At the other end of the scale is poor Mel Gibson, who was ranked third last year on the strength of his combined love for Jesus and Hollywood (and their collective love for him) -- he's fallen completely out of the top 100. *If you actually wonder how the rankings are determined, here's Forbes' summary of their process: "To generate the list, we used a combination of factors including income, Web references as calculated by Google, press clips as compiled by Lexis/Nexis, TV/radio mentions from Factiva and the number of times a celebrity's face has appeared on the cover of 26 major consumer magazines. Earnings estimates are for June 2005 to June 2006 and are dollars earned solely from entertainment income. Management, agent and attorney fees have not been deducted."
For someone who just announced he'd like to become an independent filmmaker, Steven Spielberg has quite a few studio projects on his slate. And he has just been attached to one more. The popular director will make a science-fiction film for Paramount that is being described as, "in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey." The only plot revealed is that it will focus on space explorers who travel to another dimension through a wormhole. No script is written, but there is a treatment co-written by Caltech physicist Kip Thorne and producer Lynda Obst, and it is based on Thorne's theories of gravity fields. So all we know is the yet-to-be-titled film will have something to do with black holes, gravity waves and some of Einsteins relativity hypotheses. Sounds like another action-packed blockbuster!
Of course, Spielberg still has Indiana Jones 4 and a movie about Abraham Lincoln (with Liam Neeson as the President!) to shoot before he gets behind the camera for this nerdy-sounding film. So, hopefully by 2010 he will be able to start his indie films. Given his trademark of stories about distant fathers, I am hoping he kicks it off with one of those films where a twenty-something comes home and has to make amends with his dad.
Actor/director 
Odds and ends from Friday and the weekend:
This year's Kennedy Center Honors 
I've mentioned 30 or 40 times here that I'm a huge history nerd -- I've got several massive piles of hardback (I did say HUGE nerd) bios and histories scattered around my apartment, and (get this) I actually read them. In the middle of one of those piles is a book called 
So I'm watching that 
In a move that's almost as rare as 
According to reports in the Chinese press, 
I remember when 
After hearing so much about what he 
Want to know what 
Following back-to-back films in 2005, director 
Oh, happy day: Forbes has released their list of the 
For someone who just announced 
