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1-20 of 27 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
Starz set to spill Spartacus: Blood and Sand in January
5 December 2009 8:01 AM, PST
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"I am Spartacus!"
Okay. No, I'm not. But if Starz's Spartacus: Blood and Sand is any good, it could reintroduce a new generation of fans to the legend of a slave taking on an empire. The original Stanley Kubrick-directed classic is an immortal part of entertainment history, but it's one of those films that you don't see on TV much in the age of DVDs.
According to a network release, Starz will premiere their take on Spartacus in 13 one-hour episodes kicking off Friday, January 22nd at 10 p.m. If you see previews for the series and get flashbacks to 300, you're not imagining things. It's clear the producers tapped into that stylized, graphic novel style for the show's visuals.
Shot in New Zealand, the show employs CGI, digital imaging tricks and other cinematic effects to sweeten the show's look.
Continue reading Starz set to spill Spartacus: Blood and Sand in
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- John Scott Lewinski
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Interview: Tony Curtis is the Original Fantastic Mr. Fox
5 December 2009 7:22 AM, PST
| HollywoodChicago.com
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Chicago – Tony Curtis, who rolled into town to introduce his classic “Some Like it Hot” – December 5th and 6th at the Hollywood Palms in Naperville, Il – has a sharp and voracious intelligence, plus the adventurous life story to share.
In his new book, “The Making of Some Like it Hot,” Curtis relates the incredible Hollywood tale about how two big stars, he and Jack Lemmon, dressed up as women and collided with the incomparable Marilyn Monroe and director Billy Wilder to create a true American cinema masterpiece.
HollywoodChicago’s Patrick McDonald and photog Joe Arce encountered Tony Curtis in the lobby of the new Trump Hotel. While under the Christmas tree, Curtis regaled us with the account of his first ever trip to Chicago, appearing in a play at the Yiddish Theater on Ogden and Kedzie.
Known as Bernie Schwartz in those days, Curtis told us that he had to
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- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
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Free Flick of the Day: Spartacus
10 November 2009 12:03 PM, PST
| Cinematical
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"You can't put words back in your mouth. What you can do, is spread false gossip so people think that everything that's been said is untrue ... It's like the end of Spartacus. I have seen that movie half a dozen times and I still don't know who the real Spartacus is. And that is what makes that movie a classic whodunnit." -- The Office
I know very well there isn't a single Cinematical reader who doesn't know who the real Spartacus is. There's probably little children who haven't even seen Stanley Kubrick's Roman epic who know who the real Spartacus is because the movie has become such a cultural touchstone. But just because it's ubiquitous doesn't mean you shouldn't sit down and watch the movie again, especially since it's playing for free on SlashControl. Its lengthy runtime might make it a little uncomfortable to view on your laptop, but
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- Elisabeth Rappe
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Arnold Schwarzenegger And Screen Legend Kirk Douglas In Today's Daily TwitPic
9 November 2009 6:00 AM, PST
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Arnold Schwarzenegger is always going to be a movie star to me, even though the duty of governing California has kept him away from Hollywood in recent years. Here's hoping that his cameo appearance in "The Expendables" is a sign that he wants to get back to acting after he finished with politics.
He's still hooked in enough that he'll take a trip to present an award. Kirk Douglas, one of the original tough guy actors, was recently given the British Film Academy's Britannia Award, and Schwarzenegger was the one to present it to him. Douglas has been quiet in recent years, but he's also 92 years old. With classics like "Spartacus," Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" and "Gunfight at the Ok Corral" under his belt, the man has earned himself a rest, the better to observe the success of his son, Michael, and to collect lifetime achievement awards, like
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- Adam Rosenberg
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Kirk Douglas Steals the Show at the Brittania Awards
6 November 2009 12:06 AM, PST
| The Wrap
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By Sharon Waxman
He’s curved and white-haired, and he talks a little funny. But Kirk Douglas, at 93, stole the show at the Brittania Awards on Thursday night. It was the first black tie event of the awards season and hopefully not the last Hollywood will see of the star of “Spartacus.”
Recognized for his contribution to world cinema, Douglas was charming and delighted and delightful. Despite the vestiges of a stroke on his ability to speak, he gamely quipped to Governor Arnold Schwarzen...
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- Sharon Waxman
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Interview: Director John Woo on His ‘Red Cliff’ Premiere at the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival
13 October 2009 3:55 AM, PDT
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Chicago – John Woo, whose mastery of the action movie was once compared by director Sam Raimi to the suspense mastery of Alfred Hitchcock, premiered his new film, “Red Cliff” at the Chicago International Film Festival on October 9th.
Known primarily for his Hong Kong guns-and-gangster epics like “The Killer” (1989), “Hard Boiled” (1992) and “Bullet in the Head” (1990), Woo came to America in 1993 for his memorable turns in “Broken Arrow” (1996), “Face/Off” (1997) and “Mission Impossible II” (2002). He returns to his native China for the historical drama Red Cliff.
Portrait of an Icon: John Woo at the Chicago International Film Festival, October 9, 2009.
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Red Cliff is the story of the “Three Kingdoms” of China in 208 Ad, and the war between them that changed history for its country and people. It has a broad and epic scope, beautifully composed, with a sweep and acting passion worthy of David Lean.
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- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
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Party Favors: Trumbo
23 September 2009 10:48 PM, PDT
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Seattle – Dalton Trumbo was one of the biggest names in screenwriting who for the longest time wasn’t allowed to show his name on the screen. He won two Oscars, but wasn’t allowed to step onto the stage.
At the peak of his career in 1947, he was brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee to testify about communists in Hollywood films. Like other screenwriters before the Huac, he refused to answer the questions. Their decision to not name names got them blacklisted in the industry and sent to prison. After nearly a year behind bars, Dalton secretly returned to screenwriting. He used fake names and front writers on various project. It wasn’t till 1960 when his name accompanied Exodus and Spartacus that the blacklist was broken.
Trumbo is a documentary about the writer that was originally a play written by his son Christopher Trumbo. The play had actors reading
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- UncaScroogeMcD
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American Masters Toasts Dalton Trumbo
2 September 2009 2:15 PM, PDT
| Huffington Post
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There's a scene in the 1960 film Spartacus that captures the mindset of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo -- a man that had just suffered years of persecution after being listed as one of the Hollywood Ten. Defeated by the Romans, Spartacus and his rebel army's lives are threatened unless they give up their fearless leader.
With not a moment of hesitation the entire slave army leaps to their feet and bellows "I'm Spartacus." Kirk Douglas' character slowly bows his head, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion. His brotherhood would risk torture and ultimately death just so that Spartacus isn't singled out. Sadly, such solidarity was a mere Hollywood construct. This ideal was something that Trumbo would never find in real life.
In 1947 Trumbo was one of ten Hollywood writers and directors jailed for refusing to give information...
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- James Sims
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Stanley Kubrick’s Unfinished Work May Get Finished
11 August 2009 9:41 AM, PDT
| ScreenRant.com
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Quick list of people that have continued to produce art, even after they’ve passed on: Elvis, Tupac, Jacko, Kurt Cobain, Bob Marely, Biggie, Heath Ledger. Each of these is famous for kicking the bucket and continuing to be productive, long after their passing. Well, now you can add one more illustrious name to that list… maybe.
Stanley Kubrick’s research documents for his unfinished film The Aryan Papers, were recently displayed at an exhibition. Artists Jane and Louise Wilson spent a great deal of time scouring Kubrick’s research for this film and put together a piece that not only builds on the late auteur’s efforts, but also the story of the main character, and the work of that character’s casted performer. As well, these documents were put on display at the Edinburgh Festival for attendees to see.
It is thought that in his research for The
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- Jacob Waldman
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Douglas Honoured With Prosthetic Penis In New Spartacus
6 August 2009 1:16 AM, PDT
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Kirk Douglas has an odd cameo in the upcoming TV remake of Spartacus - as a prosthetic penis.
Producer Rob Tapert reveals some of the more modest and less-endowed cast members of Spartacus: Blood & Sand asked to wear a prosthetic for the many full-frontal nude scenes in the TV mini-series - and the fake manhood was christened after the star of Stanley Kubrick's epic.
Tapert explains, "There is a great deal of nudity, both male and female, and some guys in the series are not as well-endowed as other guys, so we had to create the Kirk Douglas, as it was aptly named, so that certain actors would have a prosthetic that they could wear and feel comfortable.
"Someone lovingly called it the Kirk Douglas, and the name stuck."
Actress Lucy Lawless, who strips for the film, reveals, "That was Erin Cummings, who plays Spartacus' wife Sura. She thought she should have the right to name it (penis), so Kirk Douglas' agent, don't call us.
"That thing gets shared around. At the moment it's pinned to the wall next to all the merkins in the make-up truck."
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Lucy Lawless in 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand' - A '300' for TV?
3 August 2009 6:05 PM, PDT
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By Paula Haifley
I’ve never been scolded by a famous TV actress before, let alone one with twinkling blue eyes, a devilish grin, and a reputation for on-screen butt kicking as Xena, Warrior Princess. When Lucy Lawless, one of the stars of the upcoming TV series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, teasingly gave me a hard time for not speaking up much during the press conference for her show at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, it did make me ask more questions. I guess it’s that commanding personality that serves her well in her role as a powerful, manipulative Roman wife on the show...
Spartacus: Blood and Sand isn’t some weird Tony Curtis/Valentino mishmash, but the latest New Zealand-shot fantasy show from Rob Tapert (also Lawless’ husband) and Sam Raimi, the team that brought us Xena, Hercules, and the Evil Dead Trilogy, but shame on you if
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- Superheidi
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[DVD Review] Ulysses
2 August 2009 10:00 PM, PDT
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The word ‘epic’ has become an overused adjective in these modern times, used to describe anything great or awesome. At its simplest definition, that use isn’t incorrect, but it’s not as correct as when used to describe a story charting the journeys of a hero like Odysseus (Ulysses) or Gilgamesh. But when the dust settles, Ulysses may lay claim to the title of the definitive epic. Homer’s celebrated retelling of Ulysses’s voyage home following the events of the Trojan War (as told of in the Iliad) has had countless film, stage and novel incarnations. Of particular note is Mario Camerini’s 1954 version which captures perfectly the feel and style of the adventure serials of its time – but not without its share of shortcomings.
Ulysses (Kirk Douglas) leads his soldiers back towards their homeland of Ithaca only to find their passage rife with deadly obstacles and treacherous enemies.
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- Lex Walker
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300 + Gladiator + Sam Raimi = Spartacus: Blood and Sand
31 July 2009 7:48 AM, PDT
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Holy crap. If you haven't seen the blood-tastic trailer for the upcoming Starz original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, you need to do so. In fact, you can do it right after the break. It's over the top and filled with sweaty men cutting chunks of flesh out of each other with all sorts of weapons. There's blood, tons of nudity of both the female and male variety, (Lucy Lawless may even get fully naked, according to her), and lots of testosterone flying around. If you loved 300 and/or Gladiator, this is right up your alley. In fact, it's so far up your alley that you might be sitting a bit uncomfortably right now.
The series is produced by Sam Raimi, he told us yesterday that he'll have to vacate that seat for his directing duties on Spider-man 4. But his longtime producing partner Rob Tapert will be handling the reins, which
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- Kevin Kelly
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New pictures from "Spartacus" heavy on beefcake. And show definitely has gay characters.
30 July 2009 12:34 AM, PDT
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At Wednesday's Television Critics Association panel for the upcoming Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand starring Andy Whitfield and Lucy Lawless, the producers not only released new images from the series (that are very heavy on the beefcake), they also said the show would feature as much male nudity as female nudity, a definite switch for a genre normally aimed at straight men in their 20s.
Andy Whitfield as Spartacus
Indeed, series creator and executive producer Rob Tapert let slip that with so much male nudity, some of the male actors were self-conscious about being less well-endowed than some of their co-stars. Said Tapert:
There’s a great deal of
nudity, both male and female. And some guys are not as
well-endowed as other guys, so we had to create the Kirk
Douglas, as it was aptly named, so that certain actors
would have a prosthetic that they could wear and feel
comfortable.
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- michael
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Press Tour Notes: Joan Rivers trashes Leno, 'Spartacus' redefines Kirk Douglas
29 July 2009 11:41 PM, PDT
| Hitfix
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Wednesday (July 29) marked Day Two of what I'm already beginning to call the Twitter Television Critics Association Press Tour. Yes, I've been tweeting for the past three or four years, but these are the first two days that I've ever felt that the depth of available stories was sufficiently thin that they could be dispatched in a handful of 140 character quotes, comments and news bytes. If you're following my Twitter feed -- and you sure should be... @HitFixDaniel -- you learned that Starz' "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" will premiere on Jan. 22, that Kevin Bacon is narrating NatGeo's...
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- Daniel Fienberg
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Spartacus to Include Lots of Sex, Violence — and Human Drama
29 July 2009 7:54 PM, PDT
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In a presentation today at the annual Television Critics Association conference in Pasadena, the producers and stars of the upcoming series Spartacus: Blood and Sand emphasized that it pushes the limits of what’s been seen on television, with graphic violence and plenty of sex and nudity, but that it's all in the service of a well-told story involving compelling characters.
“Nudity?” said co-star Lucy Lawless after being asked if she gets naked in the the first season. “I’m afraid so. Not entirely, no, and I’m kind of praying that day never comes.”
According to executive producer and co-creator Rob Tapert, “There’s a great deal of nudity, both male and female, and some guys are not as well endowed as others, so we had to create [a prosthetic penis which we called] the 'Kirk Douglas' so that certain actors would have [something] they could wear and feel comfortable.
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Starz TV’s Spartacus: Blood and Sand Trailer
27 July 2009 7:45 AM, PDT
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Have you ever wondered what Stanley Kubrick's classic sword-and-sandals epic Spartacus would look like through a Zack Snyder filter? Well wonder no longer, friends, because this week Starz released the first trailer for their upcoming TV series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. I have to admit, they've done a pretty good job of replicating the look of 300 here... but is an on-going series like this really going to work?
Of course, Zack Snyder actually has nothing to do with the show. It's produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, who did Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. I'm guessing this will be more successful than their most recent series Legend of the Seeker, but a lot will depend on the writing (it looks like they have a lot of writers from Smallville working on the show... not sure how that will play out). Newcomer Andy Whitfield plays the lead role,
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- Sean
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Douglas: 'I learned a lot from Malden'
2 July 2009 9:04 PM, PDT
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Kirk Douglas has paid tribute to late actor Karl Malden. The 97-year-old Oscar-winner passed away yesterday from natural causes. Douglas reminisced about the 70-year friendship that he shared with Malden on his MySpace blog, Contactmusic reports. He wrote: "Nobody knew me as long as Karl Malden knew me. I first met him when I worked with him doing summer stock (theatre) during college vacation. Karl and [his wife] Mona are great people; we started a friendship that continued for 70 years." The Spartacus star's son actor Michael Douglas co-starred with Malden on the '70s (more)
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- By Tim Parks
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Douglas Wins Slavery Apology Battle
18 June 2009 6:35 PM, PDT
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Movie veteran Kirk Douglas is celebrating after winning a slavery apology from America's politicians.
The 92 year old, who played a slave in his most famous film Spartacus, launched a campaign to get an official apology for slavery years ago - and the Senate agreed to it on Thursday.
In a blog on his MySpace.com website in April, Douglas wrote, "In my last book, Let's Face It, I wrote about the importance of our country showing the world that we are capable of humility by making an apology for our behaviour towards African-Americans before and after the Civil War. I think this action is more important right now."
The resolution passed by the Senate reads, "(Congress) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery... and apologises to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors."
The bill will now go before the House of Representatives.
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DVD Playhouse--June 2009
3 June 2009 12:41 PM, PDT
| The Hollywood Interview
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DVD Playhouse—June 2009
By
Allen Gardner
The International (Sony) An Interpol agent (Clive Owen) joins forces with a Manhattan D.A. (Naomi Watts) to bring down an arms dealing ring and a corrupt global banking cartel that’s funding them. Superlative thriller was oddly ignored by critics and audiences alike, but expertly blends intelligence (courtesy screenwriter Eric Warren Singer’s masterfully-crafted script) and full-throttle action (director Tom Tykwer stages one of the great film shoot-outs in New York’s iconic Guggenheim Museum), making this dynamite thriller reminiscent of the best work from masters such as John Frankenheimer and Robert Aldrich. Armin Mueller-Stahl is wonderful as a world-weary covert op. Bonuses: Extended scene; Featurettes; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
The Jack Lemmon Film Collection(Sony) Five films from the two-time Oscar winning actor, focusing on his early career: Phfft! is a zippy comedy from 1954, one of Lemmon’s earliest films, in which
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- The Hollywood Interview.com
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