October 23rd, 2009
Opening today in North America, “Ong Bak 2” is the latest extravaganza starring Thai martial arts actor Tony Jaa. Co-directed by Jaa and long-time Thai director and stunt coordinator Panna Rittikrai, the film was infamously embroiled in production disputes during its making.
Jim Schembri of The Age in Melbourne discovers that the Aboriginal-language drama “Samson and Delilah makes tilt at Oscar.”
Carla Gugino, Adrianne Palicki, and Connie Britton are amongst the extensive cast appearing in Sebastian Gutierrez’s “Women in Trouble,” which debuts on November 13th in the States.
Tim Robey of The Telegraph chronicles “Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca: rows, rivalries and a movie classic.”
One Film Wonder: A U.S. Army soldier from Battle Creek, Michigan, who assisted in the liberation of Italy during World War II, John Kitzmiller remained in the country after the war and started acting in Italian films. He appeared in 45 European movies during his career. Kitzmiller was bestowed with the Best Actor accolade at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival for his performance as Sgt. Jim in the Slovenian war film, “Valley of Peace.” He was the first black actor to receive the award. (Incidentally, Paul Newman would win it the next year for “The Long, Hot Summer,” Forest Whitaker in 1988 for “Bird.”)
Kitzmiller appeared in only two English-language films: 1958’s “The Naked Earth” and the first James Bond film, 1962’s “Dr. No.” Credited as John Kitzmuller, he portrayed Quarrel, the Cayman Islander fisherman and CIA associate who assists Bond in his investigation of Dr. No’s island, Crab Key. Kitzmiller died in Rome in 1965 at the age of 51.
Posted in Beyond the Reel |
Tagged Adrianne Palicki, Alfred Hitchcock, Bird, Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Dr. No, Forest Whitaker, Jim Schembri, John Kitzmiller, One Film Wonder, Ong Bak 2, Panna Rittikrai, Paul Newman, Rebecca, Samson and Delilah, Sebastian Gutierrez, The Age, The Long Hot Summer, The Naked Earth, The Telegraph, Tim Robey, Tony Jaa, Valley of Peace, Women in Trouble |
Comments (0)
October 9th, 2009
The majestic and too-often ill-fated filmmaker Terry Gilliam presents “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” at the end of the year.
In his discussion of Jon Blair’s’ Brazilian documentary “Dancing with the Devil,” Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian sees “Olympian dreams and favela realities collide in Rio de Janeiro.”
Michael Kimmelman of The New York Times details how “A New Film Focuses France on the ‘Disgrace’ of Its Overcrowded Prisons.” Directed by Jacques Audiard, “A Prophet” arrives in North America in December.
Sebastian Gutierrez, whose “Women in Trouble” starring Carla Gugino and Joseph Gordon-Levitt opens in November, recently shared his “Top Five Films” with Film School Rejects, noting, “These Are My Top 5 Today. Ask me tomorrow, and the list would surely have Blue Velvet, Buñuel and something with Marcello Mastroianni in it.”
One Film Wonder: Eva Le Gallienne was an esteemed theater director, producer and actress, first appearing on the London stage in 1914 and lastly on Broadway in 1981. In between, she founded the Civic Repertory Theatre in the 1920s and the American Repertory Theater in the 1940sr .She appeared in only three films, including “Prince of Players” in 1955 and “The Devil’s Disciple” in 1959. For her third, “Resurrection,” which co-starred Ellen Burstyn, Sam Shepard and Richard Farnsworth, she was nominated in the spring of 1981 for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Grandma Pearl. At the time, Le Gallienne was the oldest nominee in Oscar history.
Posted in Beyond the Reel |
Tagged A Prophet, Carla Gugino, Dancing with the Devil, Ellen Burstyn, Eva Le Gallienne, Film School Rejects, Jacques Audiard, Jon Blair, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Kimmelman, One Film Wonder, Peter Bradshaw, Prince of Players, Richard Farnsworth, Sam Shepard, Sebastian Gutierrez, Terry Gilliam, The Devil's Disciple, The Guardian, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The New York Times, Women in Trouble |
Comments (0)