By Allen Gardner
Prometheus (20th Century Fox) Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel to his 1979 classic “Alien” has an intergalactic exploratory team (Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba) arriving on a uncharted planet, where they discover what appears to be a dormant alien spacecraft and what might be the first discovery of intelligent life outside of Earth. Of course, everything goes straight to hell before you can scream “Don’t touch that egg!” Sumptuous visuals and strong performances from the cast (not to mention a nearly-perfect first half) can’t compensate for gaping plot and logic holes that nearly sink the proceedings in the film’s protracted second half. It feels as though some very crucial footage wound up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps, as with “Alien” and “Aliens” we’ll see a “Director’s Cut” of “Prometheus” arriving on DVD within the next year. In the meantime,...
Prometheus (20th Century Fox) Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel to his 1979 classic “Alien” has an intergalactic exploratory team (Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba) arriving on a uncharted planet, where they discover what appears to be a dormant alien spacecraft and what might be the first discovery of intelligent life outside of Earth. Of course, everything goes straight to hell before you can scream “Don’t touch that egg!” Sumptuous visuals and strong performances from the cast (not to mention a nearly-perfect first half) can’t compensate for gaping plot and logic holes that nearly sink the proceedings in the film’s protracted second half. It feels as though some very crucial footage wound up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps, as with “Alien” and “Aliens” we’ll see a “Director’s Cut” of “Prometheus” arriving on DVD within the next year. In the meantime,...
- 10/8/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Everyone has some kind of celebrity story. And even if you don't, in this six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon world, you probably know somebody that does. And when it comes to one of the most important bands of all time, who not only touched the world of music, but film, art, politics and social change as well, it's no surprise that the reach of The Beatles stretches far and wide. And so one man with a camera, and passion for the band hit the road (and his Rolodex) and set out to document as many stories about the Fab Four as he could, and Seth Swirsky's "Beatles Stories" does just that. This breezy, no-frills documentary sets out to do exactly what it intends to, both for better or for worse, with a project that while rarely illuminating, will probably be a delight for diehard Beatles heads. The most immediate question with "Beatles Stories...
- 10/2/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Actor who made his name at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and appeared in the Beatles films, making firm friends with the Fab Four
Victor Spinetti, who has died of cancer aged 82, was an outrageously talented Welsh actor and raconteur who made his name with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and found fame and fortune as a friend and colleague of the Beatles, appearing in three of their five films, and with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Franco Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew (1967).
It was while he was giving his brilliantly articulated and hilarious "turn" as the gobbledegook-shouting drill sergeant in Oh, What a Lovely War! in the West End in 1963 – he won a Tony for the performance when the show went to Broadway – that the Beatles visited him backstage and invited him to appear in A Hard Day's Night (1964).
George Harrison later said that his mother would...
Victor Spinetti, who has died of cancer aged 82, was an outrageously talented Welsh actor and raconteur who made his name with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and found fame and fortune as a friend and colleague of the Beatles, appearing in three of their five films, and with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Franco Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew (1967).
It was while he was giving his brilliantly articulated and hilarious "turn" as the gobbledegook-shouting drill sergeant in Oh, What a Lovely War! in the West End in 1963 – he won a Tony for the performance when the show went to Broadway – that the Beatles visited him backstage and invited him to appear in A Hard Day's Night (1964).
George Harrison later said that his mother would...
- 6/20/2012
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
He may be revered across the globe for being a peace loving hero but John Lennon's former personal assistant has revealed that the former Beatles star was a closet conservative and a fan of Ronald Reagan.Incidentally, by the time he died he was a closet conservative and was enmbarrassed of his radical past.Lennon's former personal assistant Fred Seaman told Beatles Stories filmmaker Seth Swirsky that in his final months, Lennon was not the left-wing militant worshipped by many of his fans.“He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he’d been when he wrote Imagine. By 1979 ...
- 6/30/2011
- Hindustan Times - Celebrity
He may be revered across the globe for being a peace loving hero but John Lennon's former personal assistant has revealed that the former Beatles star was a closet conservative and a fan of Ronald Reagan.Incidentally, by the time he died he was a closet conservative and was enmbarrassed of his radical past.Lennon's former personal assistant Fred Seaman told Beatles Stories filmmaker Seth Swirsky that in his final months, Lennon was not the left-wing militant worshipped by many of his fans.“He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he’d been when he wrote Imagine. By 1979 ...
- 6/30/2011
- Hindustan Times - Celebrity
Movie star Jon Voight is still sore about the day John Lennon snubbed a dinner meeting with him - because he never got another chance to meet the Beatle.
The actor had become an overnight success thanks to the film Midnight Cowboy and he was walking down London's King's Road when a fan told him Lennon was dining nearby - and he decided it was time for him to meet the singer.
He recalls, "I went to the door of the restaurant and I asked one of the maitre d's... 'I don't wanna bother John, but could you tell him Jon Voight, the actor..., is out here (and) would love to come in and say hello.'
"I was thinking, 'This will be fun...' And the maitre d' comes back and goes, 'Mr. Lennon doesn't really want to be bothered...'
"I just made my way back to my little apartment with my girlfriend... I never did meet John; I would have liked to."
Voight's Lennon tale features among Fab Four anecdotes from stars like Graham Nash, Peter Noone, George Martin, Justin Hayward, Art Garfunkel, actor Sir Ben Kingsley and Ray Manzarek in new movie Beatles Stories.
The actor had become an overnight success thanks to the film Midnight Cowboy and he was walking down London's King's Road when a fan told him Lennon was dining nearby - and he decided it was time for him to meet the singer.
He recalls, "I went to the door of the restaurant and I asked one of the maitre d's... 'I don't wanna bother John, but could you tell him Jon Voight, the actor..., is out here (and) would love to come in and say hello.'
"I was thinking, 'This will be fun...' And the maitre d' comes back and goes, 'Mr. Lennon doesn't really want to be bothered...'
"I just made my way back to my little apartment with my girlfriend... I never did meet John; I would have liked to."
Voight's Lennon tale features among Fab Four anecdotes from stars like Graham Nash, Peter Noone, George Martin, Justin Hayward, Art Garfunkel, actor Sir Ben Kingsley and Ray Manzarek in new movie Beatles Stories.
- 6/10/2011
- WENN
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