The Wizard of Oz is a classic, along with The Sound of Music, Gone with the Wind and The Ten Commandments. These are a few of the shows that families sit down and watch over and over again together. Between the musical numbers the dancing and the storyline children and parents alike are entertained. Wizard of Oz has become one of the best known films by both adults and children. Perhaps it is because of the unique characters, the sweet songs, or because of the story of hope and redemption weaved throughout the story that makes this film a familiar classic.

When MGM first released the movie to the film house back in 1939, it was a flop. The movie was incredibly expensive to produce with the use of Technicolor and the special effects implemented, not to mention the large and well known cast. The production that was the most expensive endeavour at that time for MGM and it turned out to be a flop at the box office.

The show did receive an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Judy Garland's Over the Rainbow. The show was well represented at the Academy Awards with nominations in many categories including Best Picture of the Year. Unfortunately, Wizard of Oz wasn't able to claim many of these awards for themselves.

In 1956 a new era of Wizard of Oz began. The movie began to be televised for all to watch and enjoy, particularly in the United States. Over the years the movie began to be recognized as part of the Thanksgiving tradition since it was played annually around Thanksgiving. Children in the United States were able to associate the movie with the holiday. Parents and children typically sat down to watch the family friendly show together. This may be the reason the movie became so popular, as it was just something that was watched over and over again for tradition sake. Either way the show was dubbed by the Library of Congress to be one of history's most watched films. Along with this title it also is often somewhere on the top of the list of all-time best movies ever produced.

It is not surprising that the show would be made into a musical production to be seen in the theatre over and over again. However, what is surprising is the quality and raving reviews that the show in London' Palladium is being praised with. Their rendition of Wizard of Oz is drawing crowds from all over the world to see their production. Andrew Lloyd Webber was able to pull together a great cast for his production of the Wizard of Oz. Michael Crawford is the professor and Danielle Hope plays Dorothy.

Make sure that you aren't left on the wrong side of the rainbow living in black and white, get your Wizard of Oz tickets soon so you can see for yourself that there is indeed no place like home. With a simple click of your heels, errrgh mouse you can have your very own Wizard of Oz ticket, that will be sure to have you sitting at the edge of your seat.

                      ชื่อเรื่อง     The Wrestler           ชื่อไทย      เดอะ เรสเลอร์ เพื่อเธอขอสู้ยิบตา           Awards:    GOLDEN GLOBES AWARD                      WINNER                      BEST ACTOR  MICKEY ROURKE                      BEST ORIGINAL SONG  BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

          ACADEMY AWARD NOMIENEE           BEST ACTOR  MICKEY ROURKE           BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE  MARISA TOMEI

          Head Line:      ทั้งชีวิตทุ่มเทบนสังเวียนที่ต้องแลกด้วยเกียรติและศักดิ์ศรี กับครั้งสุดท้ายจะขอผงาด…"เพื่อเธอ"           ผู้ชนะรางวัลสิงโตทองคำสายภาพยนตร์ยอดเยี่ยมในเทศกาลกรุงเวนิสปี 2008 และยังพ่วงด้วยรางวัลลูกโลกทองคำครั้งล่าสุดกับ ดารานำฝ่ายชายยอดเยี่ยมและเพลงประกอบยอดเยี่ยม           Bottom Line:    วันนี้ ในรูปแบบ VCD และ DVD           แนวหนัง          กีฬา           ดารานำ          มิคกี้ รู้ก, อีแวน ราเชล วู้ด, มาริสา โทเม           ผู้กำกับ           ดาร์เรน แอรอนนอฟสกี้           ความยาว         111 นาที           ช่วงปลายทศวรรษที่ 1980 แรนดี้ "เดอะ แรม" โรบินสัน (มิคกี้ รู้ก) ยังรั้งตำแหน่งแชมป์มวยปล้ำอาชีพ ทุกวันนี้ 20 ปีผ่านไปชีวิตกลับเหลืออยู่เพียงแค่รับจ้างจัดเรียงข้าวในซุปเปอร์มาร์เกต กับเร่แสดงการต่อสู้ให้กับบรรดาแฟนๆผู้ไม่เคยเปลี่ยนใจไปจากมวยปล้ำจำนวนน้อยนิดได้เห็นเป็นขวัญตาทั่วทั้งรัฐนิวเจอร์ซีย์ ที่สำคัญสังเวียนผ้าใบยังคงเป็นที่พักพิงอันแสนอบอุ่นบนโลกอันสับสนและยากจะเข้าใจ โลกที่อยู่ไปวันๆเพียงลำพังหลังจากมีปัญหาแตกหักกับลูกสาว (อีแวน เรเชล วูด) เขามีชีวิตอยู่เพื่อมอบความตื่นเต้นเร้าใจผ่านงานแสดง และเป็นที่รักของบรรดาสาวกผู้คลั่งไคล้ความรุนแรงรวมทั้งเริ่มสัมพันธ์รักครั้งใหม่กับนางระบำเปลื้องผ้าวัยใกล้ปลดเกษียณ (มาริสา โทเม) ไม่มีสิ่งใดจะขจัดภาพลวงตาเย้ายวนของสังเวียนผ้าใบและความหลงใหลในการต่อสู้ออกไปจากใจเขาได้ พวกมันยังก่อกวนความรู้สึก โน้มน้าว แรนดี้ "เดอะ แรม" ให้เคลิ้มคล้อยและเฝ้าฝันถึงถึงการผงาดอยู่ในโลกแห่งมวยปล้ำ

          English Synopsis           This is a drama about an aging professional wrestler, decades past his prime, who now barely gets by working small wrestling shows in VFW halls and as a part-time grocery store employee. As he faces health problems that may end his wrestling career for good he attempts to come to terms with his life outside the ring: by working full time at the grocery store, trying to reconcile with the daughter he abandoned in childhood and forming a closer bond with a stripper he has romantic feelings for. He struggles with his new life and an offer of a high-profile rematch with his 1980s arch-nemesis, The Ayatollah, which may be his ticket back to stardom.

          DVD Feature           เลือกฟังเสียงภาษาไทยได้                               Languages       : English 5.1 / Thai 5.1           Subtitle        : English, Thai

          ผู้ผลิตและได้รับลิขสิทธิ์จัดจำหน่ายในประเทศไทยแต่เพียงผู้เดียว

          บริษัท เอ็ม วี ดี จำกัด (M V D Company Limited)           97/11 อาคารโครงการอีจีวี เมโทรโพลิส ชั้นที่ 6 ถนนราชดำริห์ ลุมพินี ปทุมวัน กทม. 10330           โทร : 0-2250-4950, 0-2250-5370 แฟกซ์ : 0-2250-4960-1

ข่าวประชาสัมพันธ์เดอะ เรสเลอร์

Russell Crowe will play police inspector Javert in the forthcoming Tom Hooper musical 'Les Miserables.

Russell Crowe has signed on to star in 'Les Miserables'.

The Australian actor – known for his action roles in 'Gladiator' and 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World' – will play police inspector Javert in the forthcoming musical movie, being directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom Hooper.

Hugh Jackman is set to play the lead role of Jean Valjean in the film, and Helena Bonham Carter – who starred in 'The King's Speech, for which Tom won his Academy Award – is also in negotiations for a leading role.

The story tells the tale of a man who steals bread to feed his sister during the 19th century French rebellion and spends years languishing in prison and dealing with the consequences of his actions when he is released.

Anne Hathaway and Paul Bettany are among the other names who have been rumoured to take on leading roles.

'Les Miserables' is set to be released in December 2012.

Russell Crowe – Russell Crowe Joins Les Miserables

Nicole Richie and Jessica Simpson aren’t enemies.

The 29-year-old House of Harlow 1960 designer dismissed new rumors that she hasn’t been getting along with Jessica Simpson on the upcoming reality show Fashion Star.

A report by Us Weekly claimed that Richie and Simpson only talk “when they need to,” and Richie "thinks Jessica doesn't have much of a high-fashion eye" and "makes snarky comments about Jessica's outfits.”

On Thursday, though, Richie shot down those rumors.

"I'll tell you right now that that couldn't be further from the truth," Richie told Ryan Seacrest on On Air With Ryan Seacrest, according to People. "I actually love and adore Jessica."

"I've known her for years, first of all, so I already knew who she was as a person," she added. "Who she is, is someone who's very kind, very sweet and extremely smart and a great businesswoman and someone that I really respect … I actually couldn't love someone or respect someone more."

Nicole Richie says there is no fashionista feud between her and Jessica Simpson

8 Mile movie fans are quick to point out the number of other rappers that have failed on the big screen. They also point out that 8 Mileis not your typicalrapper movie, full of fight scenes, smoking dope andSnoop Dogg. Rather, it's an actualfilm that explores thehard part about growing up and realizing what you have to do torealize your dreams.

Eminem plays B. Rabbit (aka Jimmy Smith, Jr), an aspiring rapper who grows up in the bad part of Detroit, known as 8 Mile. His mother is a drunk, father is long gone, and his job is a dead end. Rabbit has one think going for him; he's an incredibly talented rapper.

The freestyle battle scenes are the best part of the movie, and this is where Eminem really has a chance to shine. In addition, the overall story flows nicely and Rabbit's realization that he has to work hardto achieve his goalsis believable without being cliche.8 Mile movie goers will not see the same, tired realizations so common in rap movies.

Most rappers star in movies with their crew, but Eminem is surrounded by actual actors such as Brittany Murphy, Kim Basinger and Mekhi Phifer. The 8 Mile movie extras are rappers playing rappers, which is what they should be doing.

The main theme of 8 Mile revolves around how Rabbit and his cronies can get out of their negative situation, which consists of a series of battles. Firstly, Rabbit must hold down a steady job while he chases his dreams of rap stardom. To gain respect as a rapper, he must hone his battle skills. To succeed in the rap battles, he must overcome his fears.

Overall, Eminem did a great job in this role. While some people may argue his character doesn't really require acting (as it's so close to his real life persona), we've seen countless other rappers fail to achieve even that level of success. Truth be told, youcan be an 8 Mile movie fan even if you aren't an Eminem fan. The two aren't mutually inclusive. Should Eminem receive an Academy Award? Of course not. But for a guy who is starring in his very first film, he did a solid job. Plus, the director- Curtis Hanson- had the sense to surround him with professionals to help him, which certainly added to the overall film quality. I would recommend 8 mile to anyone interested in hip hop, though not necessarily Eminem.

Is it possible to think about Godfather and not also think about Al Pacino?

In the role of Michael Corleone (Godfather Part II, 1975), the reluctant-hero of the mafia epic, Pacino has become a legend of movie history.

Born in South Bronx, New York on April 25, 1940, Pacino has given us such unforgettable performances as those in Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Serpico (1973), Scarface (1983), Sea of Love (1989), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Donnie Brasco (1997), The Merchant of Venice (2004) and Two For The Money (2005).

Nominated 8 times for the Academy Award, Pacino finally won it in 1993 for portraying a blind man who is in love with life in the Scent of a Woman (1992).

Did you know these trivia facts about Pacino?

1) In 1993, Pacino was nominated for not only one but TWO Oscars — Best Actor in a Leading Role for Scent of a Woman (1992) and the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).

2) He used to smoke 2-packs a day until he stopped smoking altogether in 1994 in order not to lose his voice.

3) He adores opera and Shakespeare.

4) Of all colors, he loves black.

5) When offered to play the role of Michael Corleone in a Godfather videogame, he refused to do so.

6) He started his entertainment career as a stand-up comic.

Mix a bagful of good looks with equal amounts of talent and Angelina Jolie is what you get. Angelina Jolie is the most beautiful actresses of all times that Hollywood has seen. Owing to her magnificent beauty, she has been conferred as one of the most beautiful woman in the world.

Acting seemed to come by nature to Angelina. She made her debut as a child along side her father Jon Voight in the movie Lookin' to Get Out. A decade later Joile made a modest start to a full fledged acting career with a low budget production titled Cyborg. However, she bagged her first leading role in 1995 in the movie Hackers.

Though the actress has fair share of fan following, she has managed to win the critics in her favor too. She was extremely applauded by the critics for her performance in the movie George Wallace (1997) and Gia (1998). The actress has given some award winning performances in her acting tenure. Her performance in the movie titled Girl, Interrupted fetched her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1999. However, it was her movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider that gave an all together different route to her acting career. The movie established Angelina Jolie as one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood.

The actress is known not just for her work but her humanitarian deeds. She has been promoting several social causes across the world and is best known for her work with refugees through UNHCR. Currently living in a relationship with Brad Pitt, the woman has been attracting a lot of media attention. To sum up, it would be enough to say that this actress has it all.

One actor who is better than most of his counterparts in the same age demographic is Kevin Spacey. Mr. Spacey has not been in Hollywood for as long as many of the other legends similar to him in age, but he has risen to the top and has distinguished himself as one of the most talented actors in the industry.

This article will discuss what I consider to be Kevin Spacey's best films up to this point.

One film that I would definitely say is one of the better Kevin Spacey films is the Usual Suspects. In this movie, Spacey plays Verbal, a crippled man who is a suspect in a crime, however he rarely speaks, hence the ironic nickname. This role nabbed Spacey an Academy Award.

American Beauty is another film that definitely has to be mentioned in this article. This movie is interesting, because in the first few minutes, Spacey tells you how it is going to end. The story focuses on everything leading up to the end. An interesting technique that paid off big time in this case.

While the film was not as good as it could have been, I have to include Superman Returns on this list. Spacey reunited with director Bryan Singer for this movie and played Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor.

Seven, or Se7en as it is properly spelled, is another movie that definitely makes the list. This is a small role for Spacey, but quite the powerful one. If you have never seen this movie and enjoy crime thrillers, this is one of the better ones out there.

I would be remiss to make a list of the best Kevin Spacey movies without giving praise to The Life Of David Gale. This is such a powerful film from beginning to end. Easily one of my favorite films of his.

Hopefully there are one or more films on this list from the great Kevin Spacey which you have not yet seen.

Matt Damon at the opening night of the Broadway musical production of 'Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark.' (Joseph Marzullo/WENN.com)

Matt Damon is glad he turned down Christian Bale's Oscar-winning role in The Fighter because his exit meant "the right actor got the part".

The Bourne action man signed up to star opposite Mark Wahlberg as 'Irish' Micky Ward's half-brother Dicky Eklund, but subsequently dropped out along with director Darren Aronofsky.

The part was eventually handed to Bale, who went on to win an Academy Award for his performance, but Damon insists he is not bitter about missing the chance to star in the acclaimed film.

He tells Scotland's Daily Record, "I was supposed to play Christian's role and I dropped out. Darren Aronofsky was going to direct it and we both dropped out. But I look at Christian's performance and go, 'My God, the right actor got the part'."

CANOE — JAM! Movies: Damon glad he 86'd 'Fighter' role

According to entertainment news reports, June 26, 2011, Daniel Craig married Rachel Weisz in a recent secret wedding in New York. Additional reports stated that Weisz’s publicist has confirmed the marriage, June 22, 2011, "but gave no details."

Daniel Craig, 43, popularly known as James Bond of Ian Flemming’s spy novels, played Bond from 2005 up to the present.  Films like ”Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace” were box office hits worldwide.

Rachel Weisz, 41, on the other hand, has won various acting awards from different award giving bodies like the “Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress” and the “British Independent Film Award for Best Actress” in 2005. The two will be acting as husband and wife in a horror-film, "Dream House."

Reportedly, Rachel Weisz has been previously with Darren Aronofsky, while Daniel Craig was married to Fiona Loudon from 1992-1994.

Craig and Weisz’s wedding took place with only 4 persons in attendance, their two friends, Ella, Craig’s daughter, and Henry, Weisz’s son.

Daniel Craig’s Marriage to Rachel Weisz, Reportedly Confirmed by Weisz’s Publicist

Ellen Burstyn and Carol Kane will join Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss in the previously announced West end production of Lillian Hellman's the Children's Hour. Bryony Hannah and Tobias Menzies will also appear in the production, which is directed by Ian Rickson. the Children's Hour will begin performances on January 22, 2011 and open on February 9 at the Comedy Theatre. Burstyn, who will play Amelia Tiford, is an Academy Award winner for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. She has received six other Oscar nominations for her work in Requiem for a Dream, Resurrection, Same Time, next Year, the Exorcist and the last Picture show. She won a Tony Award for Same Time, next Year and has also appeared on Broadway in fair Game, 84 Charring Cross Road, Shirley Valentine, Shirmada, Sacrilege and Oldest Living Confederate Tells All. Kane will take on the role of Lily Mortar. Her Broadway credits include Wicked, Sly Fox, Ring Around the Bathtub and the Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. She is best known for starring on TV's Taxi. She received an Academy Award nomination for Hester Street and has also appeared in Annie Hall, Dog Day Afternoon, the Princess Bride and the Addams Family's Values. Kane recently appeared in off-Broadway's Love Loss and What I Wore. Hannah, who will play Mary Tilford, has appeared on the London stage in Earthquakes in London, Every good Boy Deserves Favour, the Pillowman and War Horse. Menzies, who will play Dr. Joseph Cardin, is best known for playing Brutus on TV's Rome. his stage credits include King Lear, Cloud nine, the Cherry Orchard and the History Boys. the cast will also feature Nancy Crane as Agatha, Amy Dawson as Rosalie Wells and Isabel Ellison as Catherine. the production will have a limited engagement through April 2, 2011.

Ellen Burstyn and Carol Kane to Join London's The Children's Hour, Starring Knightley and Moss

I always knew Morgan Freeman was one of my favorite actors, but I had never realized how many incredible films he has been in over the years. there are probably ten films in my all time top fifty that star Morgan Freeman. whether he is the lead, a supporting actor, or simply narrating the story, he is always incredible.

This article will highlight my favorite Morgan Freeman movies of all time.

The first film I will mention just so happens to be my favorite film of all time: The Shawshank Redemption. If you have yet to see this absolutely incredible movie, then it should immediately move up to number one on your list of things to do. this is as good as movies get.

Another movie that he stars in which I thoroughly enjoyed was Unleashed. mr. Freeman plays a blind man to perfection in this film, which also stars Jet Li and is directed by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle.

In the film Lucky Number Slevin, Freeman departs from his normal good guy role and plays an evil mob boss. In my opinion this movie is vastly underrated and if you like a good switch and bait story, look no further.

I would be remiss not to include a movie in which Morgan Freeman stars as Luscious Fox in the Batman series. I personally liked The dark Knight more than Batman Begins, but both of these movies are awesome.

Another great film of his is Million Dollar Baby. this is another of my all time favorites, and this is the film that finally nabbed mr. Freeman an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Hopefully there are several films on this list of Morgan Freeman films that you have yet to see, as they are all incredible movies that are worth seeing.

To get Get low off the ground, the filmmakers knew they would need a highly skillful and creative actor in the lead role of Felix – someone capable of making a character who seems right out of a backwoods fable feel palpably real and alive. They found that quality in Robert Duvall, one of America’s most diverse and respected actors, and winner of the Academy Award for his performance as a broken-down country singer trying to turn his life around in Bruce Beresford’s Tender Mercies.

Sissy Spacek, an Oscar winner for her incisive portrait of Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter and whose work has been a staple of modern American filmmaking, was another important casting choice for the role of the strong, independent widow, Maddie, the old flame who thinks she is the only person on earth to have ever loved Felix, only to discover the terrible and long-hidden reason he never fully loved her back.  more after the jump:

We sat down with these two wonderful, iconic actors to talk about their new film about one man’s last ditch quest for redemption inspired by an eccentric 1930s Tennessee hermit known as Felix “Bush,” who famously came out of hiding to throw his own funeral party while he was still very much alive and kicking. Robert and Sissy told us about their characters, how they prepared for their roles, and what it was like working with Aaron Schneider in his feature directorial debut. They also updated us on their upcoming projects.

Question: Sissy, what was your rehearsal process like, or what did you do to develop the chemistry we saw on screen?

RD: There was no –

SS: We really didn’t have any rehearsal. I think bill [Murray] and Aaron, the director and I read through the script, but we ran lines on set occasionally just so we would remember things, but we didn’t really rehearse. this man comes in prepared.

RD: No, no. if you’re not prepared, take One is a rehearsal, because you can always take take Two and take three – or the rehearsal before take One is a rehearsal. So I don’t think you have to rehearse necessarily. I think you can, but take One is a rehearsal. But sometimes take One is the one they use, too. So it’s different strokes, I think.

SS: I came thinking “I’m going to watch Bobby and see how he, you know, see his process, but you can’t see it. It’s invisible.

RD: Well, especially with writing like this. it helps to make it invisible, the writing is so good in this. The structure of this script, the myth, the tale, the Southern tale is so beautifully written you just go along with it, really.

Q: What is it about the characters that resonated with you?

SS: One of the things that I loved was I really loved Felix Bush, and he’s a peculiar character – he’s funny and he’s deep, and I’ve often felt like Felix, wanting to what I call “go to ground” and just get away from the maddening crowd. not for 40 years, but –

RD: not even 40 days.

SS: not even 40 days. Well, 40 days would be good.

RD: 40 hours.

SS: you know, the thing I loved about it was that for me, I didn’t think, oh, Maddie is this character I have to play. it was the piece, really, that pulled me in, and it’s a very lyrical story. When I was reading it, I just never knew from page to page what was going to happen. I guessed a couple of times, and I guessed wrong. But they’re also people that I’ve – I’ve known people like that. I grew up in a rural area and I live in a rural area now, and there are people that their personas are very expansive, like Felix Bush’s character, and it was just the overall lyricism, I think, of the film, and kind of the quirkiness of it.

RD: There was someone I was talking to today who said there was a kind of mysticism to the way things went.

SS: I think it has depth. more than it being about the characters or what the characters do, it’s about what the characters feel and think. It’s a real – I don’t know, you stumped me (laughs). Help me out here.

RD: No, you said it. I don’t have to say anything.

Q: Robert, this seems like almost a companion piece to to kill a Mockingbird. do you see parallels with your character here with Boo Radley?

RD: No, I disagree. Many people say that and they’re both hermetic guys but this guy could have been a lawyer, a teacher, a doctor, and that guy was off a little bit mentally. this guy, his hermetic life isn’t an arbitrary thing, he chooses [it]. I think the writing and the whole project is a little bit like Horton Foote who made the adaptation of to kill a Mockingbird, but they’re both hermit guys but very different.

Q: how does it feel that this is finally coming out, and what do you have coming up?

RD: (to Sissy) What have you got coming up next?

SS: Well, first of all, it feels great to – we’re tired (laughs). it feels great to have it finally coming out, because we want people to get to see it, and it’s a lovely movie. you know, it’s always nice to have a movie in the can, but this was getting ridiculous. and I am leaving this weekend to do The Help, down in Mississippi.

RD: I am leaving tomorrow to go to Texas to do a film called Seven Days in Utopia with Lucas Black, who’s pretty much a scratch golfer. usually golf movies, I haven’t seen too many of them but I don’t think they can hit the ball, the actors, but this kid’s a legitimate golfer. So I’ll be working with him, it will be nice, and it will be in Utopia, Texas.

SS: and I’ll be somewhere two hours from Jackson, Mississippi.

RD: and both of us will probably be very warm.

SS: Probably will. We’ll be in our element.

Q: Sissy can you elaborate on your role in The Help?

SS: Well, I haven’t really done it yet, so I haven’t really got it figured out. But obviously I play mrs. Walters, and she’s the mother of one of the lead characters that’s played by Bryce Dallas Howard.

RD: by who?

SS: by Bryce Dallas Howard. Ron Howard’s daughter.

RD: Boy, there’s so many new ones.

Q: Robert, can you talk about finding the substance in the dialogue? because it all seems very simple, but it’s got real resonance as well.

RD: Just go with it. I mean, it’s very specifically written that way by the two authors, and especially Charlie Mitchell from Alabama came in later and put the final touches, embellishments and also the structure and you just went with it and tried to feel it. you know, just go with it – the writing just kind of takes you. you think about the character and you daydream about the character day and night, and you just kind of let it happen. The writing is beautiful, but it’s nothing that makes you feel foreign when you read the dialogue. it just takes you.

Q: Robert, is there something that particularly appeals to you about working with younger or first-time directors?

RD: No, it’s mainly the script or the story, and then it just so happens that the director might be a first-time director. That’s okay. I mean, it might not be okay if it’s the 50th time he’s directed. You’ve got to say, beware, careful. But you’ve worked with first time directors.

SS: Oh yeah.

RD: it can be fantastic. There’s always a time where you’re kind of parrying, no matter how much experience they have. you try to stake out your ground, and it should be a collaborative thing and it can be and sometimes there are differences and there’s conflict, and that can be better sometimes than if it’s 1000 percent harmonious. That can end up dull sometimes.

Q: with all of your experience, is it tough stepping into a project with someone who has little to none?

RD: No, no, it’s an individual thing. It’s individual.

Q: When did you first hear of this story and when did it first catch your attention? and can you talk about casting bill Murray, who’s great in the movie?

RD: Yeah, it was good working with him. He added a lot of stuff and in between takes he would play music on set, crazy different types of music, and he was always on the present in a pretty good way, I think. He added a lot, and I think he came on a little bit later but he heard about the project, he doesn’t have an agent but they finally got it to him and he responded. He really wanted to do it. I don’t know where he is today. He never showed up in LA.

Q: What made you think of him?

RD: I didn’t think of him. I think the director and producer thought of him. way, way, way back they were thinking of other people, I think, and then he kind of got wind of it and he approached them as much as they approached him.

Q: Can you talk about the first time you heard this story?

RD: Yeah, well, it was a true story but it’s all mainly fictionalized so it’s a new thing, even from the reality of the old guy, the real guy. and when I first heard about it and read about it, I liked it, the idea of a guy who sets up and goes to his own funeral, because it was probably something I would never do. They’re just good characters. It’s like Chekhov or anything. It’s our own. Some Russian ballet master woman said there’s no culture in America, but if you look you can find interesting stuff in this country, don’t you think?

SS: Yeah!

RD: Very interesting stuff. even though we’re young.

Q: Robert, can you reflect upon your now 50-year career since debuting with to kill a Mockingbird and how it’s evolved?

RD: Well, I had a wonderful career. Had I only worked with Horton Foote who wrote that adaptation, had I only worked with Horton Foote and Francis Ford Coppola, I would have had a wonderful mini career. But I’ve had many other opportunities as well. and Horton was a friend for – how many friends do you have for 50 years and stay friends? Two or three, you know. But it’s been a good career and it’s been varied and I haven’t done theater in quite a while since I did American Buffalo on Broadway, but I like film. I figured there are certain film projects you can do on stage anyway, but I don’t like to do things seven or eight times a week. It’s like eating steak every night – you get tired of it. But I’ve had a great career and it’s been varied and I always like to think of myself in the potential. There’s stuff left even as we speak, there’s stuff out there.

Q: you have a new movie you’re starring in?

RD: Yeah, there’s a few things out there. The most difficult thing is raising the money for the projects. There’s some wonderful projects out there.

Q: So how do you prepare, as an actor, for a movie?

RD: Depends on the part. Sometimes you don’t prepare much. I mean, when I did Lonesome Dove way back I rode horses day and night for like three or four months, and that got me ready for that. Different things, you know, but something like this, you just sit. this part, we spent Christmas in northern Argentina with my wife’s parents and her family, so I was just sitting in this little hotel studying the part, looking at the Andes, these beautiful Andes mountains, and it gave me a sense of solitude and peace, rumination. Different way, depends on the project. There are many ways to approach it, some simpler than others.

SS: Well, exactly like Bobby said, it depends on the role. in Coal Miner’s Daughter, I went to Nashville and worked with Loretta, her producer and her band. One movie, they set up a real kitchen for me in the location. I was playing a farm wife, and I baked pies and bread all day, and the crew just – I had them eating out of my hands. I could say when we were shooting, “Would you move that light?” “Oh, you made that good cherry pie. Sure I will!” It’s a wonderful thing, one film, when I was working with Tommy Lee Jones, on a film he directed, I learned to ride side saddle, The Good Old Boys.

RD: She does it better than I do, but when I did Tender Mercies down in Italy, Texas, and all those towns, Waxahachie. I got up and sang with the local bands, and see the people two-stepping by you and everything. Hopefully there’s not a fight breaking out in the back. you do that as your homework too.

SS: That’s one of the real beautiful perks. you get to do these things you wouldn’t ordinarily get to do, and people help you. It’s great. I learned to make strudel on a table where you rolled it out on the whole table!

RD: you get a jack of all trades, master of some. So you try to master those things.

Q: you both have largely been associated with rural roles, but you’ve also done urban, and I was wondering, aside from the accents, do you think there’s any difference between those two kinds of roles when you take them and how do you approach them?

RD: Oh, they’re different, yeah. I don’t know if it can be explained. Billy Bob Thornton wants to direct The Hatfields and the McCoys. He said, “No New York actors will be allowed below the Mason-Dixon Line.”

SS: That is true. There’s something about Southern characters.

RD: Maybe an English actor would be better at it than a guy from New York, playing a Southern guy.

SS: Maybe. I wouldn’t sell those New York actors short.

RD: When I played Robert E. Lee in Gods and Generals, we brought Bob Easton back, this great dialectitian. He lives out in Texas. They wanted a Virginia accent. He said, “Well, there’s twelve distinct Virginia accents, from the Piedmont to the coast.” Black and white, many different accents. You’ve just gotta hit on a flavor sometime, rather than just going for an all out accent.

SS: Yeah, there are many different southern accents.

RD: Many different Texas accents, oh. People come from Mississippi, there’s that, Tennessee…

SS: I think people are people. The human condition is the human condition, and what we try to do is illuminate the human condition. I think people in the north, and the south, and the east and the west, anywhere they come from are just as interesting, and they’re humans. They have the same realm of emotions that we all have. But I’m just more drawn to the Southern character and the different types, and Southern literature is so lyrical and so wonderful.

RD: and the music, too.

SS: and the music. I’ve been so fascinated with that. But when I first started working as an actress, I thought, “I am going to break the stereotype, the Southern stereotype. We’ve gotten a bad rap.” I don't think I did it alone, but (laughs) there’s so many different Southern accents.

RD: When I was in the Army, I bunked over a guy that was a Virginia farmer. for some reason, we changed companies. a month or so later, I bunked over a guy that was a potato farmer from Maine, and they both were very rural guys. The potato farmer from Maine was almost related to this speech from Old England, but they both were interesting guys, and both rural guys. and if you could capture either one on film, it would be wonderful. But it goes back to the story, a guy drove in a car service in New York, and he says, “You know, when I was in the Deep South in the Army, in the hills, all those hillbillies and those guys in the creeks in the mountains, they constantly outscore the New Yorkers on the aptitude tests.” interesting.

SS: How’d they know that?

RD: He was in the Army. I don’t know if that’s a generalization, but it’s specific to him. you know, Hollywood sometimes tends to patronize the interior of the United States. As Horton Foote used to say, the great Texas playwright, that a lot of people from New York don’t know what goes on beyond the South Jersey Shore.

Q: do you think there’s any difference in their body language?

RD: I don’t know if you can break it down, maybe. Somebody did some research recently about if you bump people in a school room, guys in the South were quicker to fist fight than guys from the North. Now, I don’t know-

SS: Well, probably because people from the North are used to getting bumped. It’s crowded where they are.

RD: Yeah, New York, right.

SS: I think maybe part of the thing is that the South is so hot, that people are pushed to their limits.

RD: Yeah, but the hottest I’ve ever felt in my life is Chicago, Illinois. Sixteen year, when all those people died in a heat wave. I’ve been in Houston, and the Philippines, and that’s the hottest I’ve ever felt. I don’t know why.

SS: Maybe because they weren’t serving sweet tea.

RD: Well, it was coming off the lake. and the coldest I’ve ever been, yeah.

Q: you guys have consistently done a great job of playing characters that seem fully authentic, rather than somebody, like a New York actor trying to affect a twang. Having played a lot of Southern or Midwestern characters, what is the key to playing one authentically?

RD: It’s a pleasant challenge.

SS: It’s a pleasant challenge, I think for me it’s what I know. I’m just attracted. also, maybe we can choose better Southern scripts, because we’re familiar with that genre, and we’ve lived that, and we see beyond the stereotypes.

RD: Yeah. When I played Robert E. Lee, I’d seen it done before, and I didn’t agree with it, but my father was from Alexandria, Virginia, and he went to the Naval Academy when he was 16 years old, off the farm from a one-room country school, he went to high school at 11, and he talked probably just like Robert E. Lee talked, who spent most of his growing-up years near Alexandria, VA. “Out” and “house,” that soft “r,” so I just talk like my father and my uncles when I played that part, because that’s the way Lee must’ve talked. I once was where they played golf, in eastern Scotland, and some people were talking, and I said, “I don’t mean to interrupt you, but do you happen to come from near the South Carolina border?” They said, “Yes, we do.” and I think the most beautiful English spoken is from Virginia, down to the South Carolina border. more than England or anyplace. Beautiful English. Soft, cultivated, yeah. “Our area.” They’d talk about “our area.” There’s so many different ones, black and white. There’s accents all over the South. Parts of Georgia, they’ll say “furst,” and New Orleans too, almost like New York somewhat. and Texas has so many.

SS: down in Texas we say, “hurri-kin,” and “forrid,” not “forehead.” my girls laugh at me.

RD: But there’s so many different accents, I think, in Texas too.

SS: Central Texas, there’s so many –

RD: bigger than France, like five different countries you could put in there.

Q: Robert, who’d you prefer as a leading lady? The mule or Sissy?

RD: if she’d give me a little hoot, I’d prefer the leading lady over the mule. I can’t answer that one! (laughs) That was an improvised scene we did! When I introduced you to the mule, that was improvised! That wasn’t in there.

SS: He only likes me because I held my gloved hand out with that mule.

Get low opens in theaters in Los Angeles and New York on July 30th.

by Andrew Gans13 May 2011

will Swenson, Tony Sheldon and Nick Adams Photo by Joan Marcus

a new block of tickets for Priscilla Queen of the Desert the Musical— drawn from the Academy Award-winning film "the Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert" — will go on sale May 16. Tickets will be available through Jan. 29, 2012.

it was also recently announced that the musical will launch a national tour in fall 2012. the first city and starting date will be announced shortly.

the Broadway production, which opened at the Palace Theatre March 20, has been nominated for Best Musical Awards by the Drama League, the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama Desk. the musical is also the recipient of two 2011 Tony nominations.

Olivier Award nominee Tony Sheldon (as Bernadette), Hair Tony Award nominee will Swenson (as Tick/Mitzi) and La Cage aux Folles actor Nick Adams (as Adam/Felicia) star on Broadway as "the trio of friends on a heart-warming, uplifting adventure. [They] hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback and end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed."

the Broadway company also features C. David Johnson (Bob), James Brown III (Jimmy), Nathan Lee Graham (Miss Understanding), Mike McGowan (Frank), J. Elaine Marcos (Cynthia), Jessica Phillips (Marion), Steve Schepis (Farrah), Keala Settle (Shirley), Luke Mannikus (Benji), plus "Divas" Jacqueline Arnold, Anastacia McCleskey and Ashley Spencer, with Thom Allison, Kyle Brown, Bryan West, Tad Wilson, Joshua Buscher, Gavin Lodge, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Jeff Metzler, Eric Sciotto, Amaker Smith, Esther Stilwell and Ashton Woerz.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert is written by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott and directed by Simon Phillips. the score features existing dance-floor favorites.

the show is drawn from the Oscar-winning film "the Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert," which starred starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce.

Choreography is by Ross Coleman, musical supervision and arrangements are by Stephen "Spud" Murphy, and set design is by Brian Thomson. Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner have re-created their Academy Award-winning costume designs, which were originally designed for the film. Lighting is designed by Nick Schlieper and sound design is by Jonathan Deans. Make-up design is re-created by Cassie Hanlon.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert had its world premiere in Sydney in 2006 and has subsequently dragged its flashy wares to Melbourne and New Zealand, becoming the most successful Australian musical of all time. the London production continues in the West End at the Palace Theatre.

the staging won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Costume Design for Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner. the show was also nominated for Best New Musical, and Tony Sheldon was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical.

the original Broadway cast recording of Priscilla Queen of the Desert the Musical, produced by Stephen "Spud" Murphy and Frank Filipetti for the Rhino label, is currently available at the Palace Theatre.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert is produced by Bette Midler; James L. Nederlander; Garry McQuinn, Liz Koops; Michael Hamlyn; Allan Scott; Roy Furman/ Richard Willis; Terry Allen Kramer; Terri and Timothy Childs, Ken Greiner, Ruth Hendel; Chugg Entertainment; Michael Buckley; Stewart Lane/ Bonnie Comley; Bruce Davey; Thierry Suc/TS3; Bartner/ Jenkins; Broadway Across America/H. Koenigsberg; M. Lerner/ D. Bisno/ K. Seidel/ R. Gold; Paul Boskind and Martian Entertainment / Spirtas-Mauro Productions / MAS Music Arts & Show; and David Mirvish.

for more information visit priscillaonbroadway.com.

An exclusive look inside the bus:

"It's true that some films will involve me more than others," admitted American filmmaker Martin Scorsese. "It's also true that I might have never made Taxi Driver [1976] were it not for the success of Alice [Doesn't Live here Anymore, 1974]. The question of commercialism is a source of worry. Must one make a choice, must it be a matter of either setting your sights on winning an Academy Award and becoming a millionaire, or making only the movies you want to make and starving to death?" The $1.3 million production about a lonely New York City taxi driver (Robert De Niro), who has an unrequited romantic attachment with political campaign volunteer (Cybill Shepherd) and becomes a vengeful angel for a child prostitute (Jodie Foster), potently harnessed the sense of public disillusionment fueled by the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War. "I had to make that movie. Not so much because of the social statement it makes, but because of its feeling about things, including things I don't like to admit to myself." A veteran of a number of failed marriages, the director could relate to the emotional turmoil endured by Travis Bickle (De Niro). "I know the feeling of rejection that Travis feels, of not being able to make relationships survive."

"The best way is to start with a character and then put him through scenes, through conflicts, that illustrate your theme," instructed Martin Scorsese. "When Travis [De Niro] falls in love with a woman, he can't admit he wants to make love to her… The movie deals with sexual repression, so there's a lot of talk but no sex, lovemaking, no nudity. if the audience saw nudity, it would work like a release valve and the tension that's been building up would be dissolved. The valve in Taxi Driver is not released until Travis finally lets loose and starts shooting." One of the most famous scenes in cinema was the result of a creative collaboration between the director and his leading man. "I did improvise him talking in the mirror: 'are you talking to me?' it was in the script that he was looking at himself in the mirror, doing this thing with the guns, and I told Bob, 'He's got to say something. He's got to talk to himself.' We just started playing with it and that's what came out." Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs), who was 12 years old at the time of filming, was impressed with the ability of Scorsese to bring out the best in his cast members. "There's a big difference between someone who performs with you and somebody who asks you to perform for them," stated Foster. "he is there. Marty gets behind your eyes."

Despite Columbia executives' disdain for having to enduring the expense of on-location principle photography, Martin Scorsese insisted on shooting Robert De Niro (Stardust) talking to Cybill Shepherd (The Last Picture Show) in an actual coffee shop. "I placed them by a window so you can see all of Columbus Circle, the cars, the whole city," explained the filmmaker. "New York City is a character in the movie." Scorsese was left emotionally drained from his constant battles with the Hollywood studio. "That night, I went through a number of crises and made a lot of phone calls. I said to a friend, 'That's it. if they don't like the way I'm going to make the picture, then I won't make the picture.' That's when you realize that you really have to love something enough to kill it." his devotion to the story came at a great personal cost to the native of Flushing, New York. "for me it was just the beginning of going into an abyss for about two years and coming out barely alive. it was a few weeks after Taxi Driver that I started playing with drugs." Cast along with De Niro, Shepherd and Foster in the drama which grossed $28 million domestically are Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs), Peter Boyle (Young Frankenstein), Albert Brooks (Lost in America), Leonard Harris (Hero at Large) and Martin Scorsese. at the Academy Awards, Taxi Driver contended for Best Picture, Best Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Supporting Actress (Jodie Foster), and Best Original Score; while the BAFTAs lauded it with Best Supporting Actress (Foster), Best Newcomer (Foster), and the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music as well as nominations for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Editing. The Golden Globes nominated Taxi Driver for Best Actor – Drama (De Niro) and Best Screenplay; it also won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Robert De Niro was presented with the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, Paul Schrader received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination Best Original Screenplay – Drama, and Bernard Herrmann contended at the Grammy Awards for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture. Commenting on the enduring acclaim for the film which was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1994, Martin Scorsese remarked, "I was in China in 1984 and a young man from Mongolia talked to me at length about Taxi Driver, about the loneliness. That's why the film seems to be something that people keep watching over and over. It's not the shoot-'em out ending."

"It's about the decline of big bands and a couple, a saxophonist and a girl singer in a band, who try to make a go of it but they have no money; they break up and get back together after making it," explained Martin Scorsese of his ill-fated 1940s musical New York, New York (1977) which stars Liza Minnelli (The oh in Ohio), Robert De Niro, Lionel Stander (Once Upon a Time in the West), Barry Primus (Absence of Malice), Mary Kay Place (Being John Malkovich), Georgie Auld, George Memmoli (Rocky), and Dick Miller (The Terminator). "In the picture, I tried to fuse whatever was a fantasy – the movies I grew up with as a kid – with the reality that I experienced myself." The creative decision of the director caused the production budget to balloon to $14 million. "it became a little bigger than we thought because of this concept I had of doing the picture in the old style, which is sound stages and back lots." Though the title suggests otherwise, the entire principle photography took place in Los Angeles. "14 weeks became twenty-two weeks mainly because of the fact that it was a musical. Irwin Winkler, Bob Chartoff and I had never done a musical before so we underscheduled the picture mistakenly."

Earl Mac Rauch spent two years composing the original script. "Whenever we would ask for a change of two or three pages, he would bring twelve pages in and they were terrific," recalled Martin Scorsese. "A whole new direction, whole new character things. he is a good writer and what happened was it became unmanageable in terms of making a shooting script." The director turned to his veteran collaborator for help. "We needed structure. So Mardrik Martin of Mean Streets came in…. he wrote some scenes, some key dialogue." Martin worked with Scorsese's wife at the time Julia Cameron to reinvent the screenplay. "I reshot a couple of things at the end, because up until that point, I had been so close to the subject matter, [and] the characters that I couldn't see how they should end as characters." A test screening of New York, New York, resulted in sequences being cut from the picture. "The biggest thing was the Happy Endings production number. A lot of people felt it overbalanced the picture. it was 11 minutes long. The movie was a commercial disappointment, earning $16 million domestically. The BAFTAs nominated New York, New York for Best Costume Design and Best Soundtrack; while at the Golden Globes it contended for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor – Musical or Comedy (Robert De Niro), Best Actress – Musical or Comedy (Liza Minnelli), and Best Original Song. The Santi Jordi Awards presented Robert De Niro with the trophy for Best Performance in a Foreign Film. Scorsese was given the opportunity to restore some of the sequences removed in order to achieve a 2 hour and 45 minute theatrical runtime. "The entire Happy Endings number, along with all the other scenes we liked, are in the television version, which is three to three-and-one-half hours [long]."

"I shot the whole thing incognito," confessed Martin Scorsese of his documentary rock-concert film, The Last Waltz (1978), which was filmed at San Francisco's Winterland in the fall of 1976. I was suppose to be resting, taking time off between shooting and editing New York. it was all very secret. Irwin Winkler [New York, New York's producer] didn't know I'd done it until it was over and then, when he found out, he was furious." The director conceived the project chronically the last live performance of The Band as an opera; he borrowed the set of La Traviata from the San Francisco Opera. Scorsese sat down with his cinematographer Michael Chapman to discuss the colour lighting changes required to emphasize the content of each musical moment. Permission was obtained to dig into the floor of the Winterland to construct a tower that would enable Martin Scorsese to film wide angle shots. The resourceful moviemaker employed crab dollies in places on the stage which would not obscure the view of audience members. "We went in thinking, we'd document the Band's last concert and maybe we'll get something, maybe we won't. Then when footage came back and we looked at it on the KEM, I just said, 'Wow. This is fantastic. We've got a movie.'"

Additional footage was filmed. Scorsese interspersed three studio shot numbers into the production which enabled him to experiment with pyrotechnics and interview members of the group. Film editor Jan Roblee suggested placing the footage of the last song Don't Do It at the beginning of the film thereby turning the concert into a flashback. "I had the feeling that the movie audience could become more involved with the concert if we concentrated on the stage. Besides, after Woodstock [1970], who wants to see the audience anymore?" Appearing on stage with Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson are Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Neil Young, The Staples, Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Paul Butterfield, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, and Ron Wood. "The movie was therapy. it was the only thing that held me together," confided Martin Scorsese whose marriage to writer Julia Cameron fell apart after the birth of their daughter. New York, New York was a box office failure, and he was replaced by Gower Champion as the director of the struggling stage sequel to his musical starring Liza Minnelli called The Act. "there was a lot of high living. at first, you felt like you could make five films at once. Then you wound up spending four days in bed every week because you were exhausted and your body couldn't take it." In and out of hospital suffering asthma attacks, Scorsese ended up in hospital with internal bleeding on Labour Day 1978. "Marty got a doctor who conveyed the message that he either alter his life or he was going to die," revealed musician Robbie Robertson who roomed with the filmmaker. "We knew we had to change trains. Our lives were way too rich. The cholesterol level was unimaginable."

American Boy: A Profile of: Steven Prince (1978) is a documentary Martin Scorsese produced about an ex-drug addict and road manager for Neil Diamond who portrayed a gun dealer in Taxi Driver. as Steve Prince talks about his family, the filmmaker intersperses home movie clips shot during Prince's childhood. some of the stories told have served as cinematic inspiration for the likes of Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction) and Richard Linklater (Waking Life). During the opening credits, Time Fades Away by Neil Young is played. A sequel was released called American Prince (2009) which was helmed by Tommy Pallotta.

"I remember having read the book in California when I was finishing Alice Doesn't Live here Anymore," recalled Martin Scorsese of the autobiography written by boxer Jake La Motta which was brought to his attention by Robert De Niro. "I also remember a long conversation with Bobby during a night in my office at Warner Bros.. honestly, it wasn't like a bolt of lightning. no matter what anyone claimed later, I didn't even notice Jake's opening line, 'When my memories come back to me, I have the feeling that I'm watching an old film in black and white.' My reasons for shooting in black and white have nothing to do with this quotation." Contemplating his reasoning for not shooting in colour, the director stated, "Our memories of boxing from the 40s are in black and white, like the newsreels and photographs of that time." Scorsese explained further, "The final reason was that several films on boxing were in preparation: The Champ [1979], Rocky II [1979], The Main Event [1979], [and] Matilda [1978]. I wanted Raging Bull [1980] to be very different visually and to evoke the admirable photography of James Wong Howe in Sweet Smell of Success [1957]."

"Mardik did two and half years of research and interviews," said Martin Scorsese. "he took off in all directions, and he even spent a year writing a play about Jake. The more eye witness accounts he got, the more things got mixed up." The story became overly ambitious. "The script was way too long. everything was there, Jake's childhood, his father, the prison and even his testimony before the Kefauver Commission in New York – but I didn't want to hear anything about any boxing matches!" A new structure had to be found so Scorsese recruited Paul Schrader to rewrite the script. "Schrader had the idea of opening with the speech on the stage and linking that to Jake's first defeat, in Cleveland. an unjust and inexplicable defeat…The essential thing was for the audience to sympathize with Jake right away." Concerned about making the main character unlikable, Scorsese decided to tone down the domestic violence. "Schrader had kept the scene in which Jake knocks out his first wife during a party and, thinking she's dead, imagines different ways to get rid of the body…there was also a scene where his wife climbs up on the fender of his car to keep him from starting it. This violence came too early. I was happy with just the table overturned and a couple of swear words."

"Here's a man who is methodically destroying himself, who is pulling others down with him, who falls into the deepest hole – and who pulls himself up again," stated Martin Scorsese in regards to what attracted him to produce the biopic. A major difference between the autobiography and the film is that the characters of Peter Savage and Jake's brother Joey are combined into one character. Cast in the $18 million production are Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci (My Cousin Vinny), Cathy Moriarty (Casper), Frank Vincent (The Crew), Nicholas Colosanto (Family Plot), Mario Gallo (King Kong), Frank Adonis (Wall Street), Joseph Bono (Analyze That), Frank Topham, and Martin Scorsese. "The first match is the only one in which we used the reactions of the audience," said the director as to how he constructed the boxing scenes. "The last meeting with Robinson is completely abstract. there are wide angle and foggy shots because at this stage no one is worrying about the punches which landed so well. The ring is twice as big as it was in reality. It's not a matter of literally translating what Jakes sees and hears, but to present what the match means for him, all the while respecting as much as possible, the historical truth." Scorsese carried on to say, "with the exception of the match against Dauthille, where we were outside the ropes, I was in the ring the whole time with the camera, just as attentive to the physical reality of the punches and the panting as I was to the psychological dimension of the encounter." The choice not to film the movie in colour caused the filmmaker to improvise. "I had to use a lot of blood because we were shooting in black and white, but that's just secondary. The real violence is inside."

The first flashback being setoff with Jake La Motta practicing to That's Entertainment was an act of serendipity. "We found it by accident one night at the editing table, when I was in despair about not being able to connect Jake's bloated face of the 60s with his young face of the 40s," recalled Martin Scorsese. "two tracks accidentally overlapped and bang! The sound connected the two eras." The principle photography went over budget with ten weeks of shooting fight scenes that in the end amounted to nine minutes of screen time. "I went through a serious crisis. I didn't want to do the film any longer. ..Physically, I was also in terrible shape. I spent four days in the hospital hovering between life and death. I was lucky I survived." Grossing $23 million domestically, Scorsese dedicated the film to his former NYU professor Haig Manoogian. "When I took his first course in the 60s…he gave me the energy to become a filmmaker." Raging Bull won two Oscars for Best Actor (Robert De Niro) and Best Editing; it also contended for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci), Best Supporting Actress (Cathy Moriarty), Best Cinematography, Best Director, and Best Sound. at the BAFTAs, the boxing biopic was rewarded with Best Editing and most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles (Pesci) while competing for Best Actor (De Niro), and most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles (Moriarty). The Golden Globes honoured Robert De Niro with Best Actor – Drama as well as handing out nominations for Best Director, Best Picture – Drama, Best Supporting Actor (Pesci) and Best Supporting Actress (Moriarty). The New York Film Critics Circle Awards presented Robert De Niro with Best Actor and Joe Pesci with Best Supporting Actor. Martin Scorsese received a Directors Guild of America Award nomination and film editor Thelma Schoonmaker won the Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film from the American Cinema Editors. In 1990, Raging Bull was inducted into the National Film Registry.

Unwanted notoriety came to Martin Scorsese in 1981 when John Hinckley tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in an attempt to impressed actress Jodie Foster; he had been obsessed with her since seeing Taxi Driver. Fearing a violent public reaction to the revelation, the director attended the Academy Awards surrounded by undercover FBI agents. interestingly, the next picture by Scorsese was about a struggling comedian who resorts to extreme measures in order to gain public attention.

The King of Comedy (1982) stars Robert De Niro as novice comedian Rupert Pupkin who kidnaps a famous talk show host played by Jerry Lewis (The Nutty Professor) in an attempt to get himself on television. "I can identify with Pupkin," remarked Martin Scorsese who utilized static shots throughout the picture in an effort to simplify things. "It's the same way I made my first pictures with no money and with the constant rejection – going back and going back until finally, somehow, you get a lucky break." The moviemaker understands the destructive drive of the character. "I wanted to look at what it's like to want something so badly you'd kill for it. By kill I don't mean kill physically, but you can kill the spirit, you can kill relationships, you can kill everything else around you in your life." Performing in the $20 million production with De Niro and Lewis are Sandra Bernhard (Hudson Hawk), Diahnne Abbott (Love Streams), and Shelley Hack (Annie Hall). The drama with the movie poster tagline "It's no laughing matter." grossed $3 million domestically. "A close friend of mine told me two months before the film was finished, 'The buzz is bad.' I hate that. When the buzz is bad, people don't want to be associated with the picture. you feel totally abandoned. I must say, that was painful. because the film came out and died in four weeks." at the BAFTAs, The King of Comedy won Best Original Screenplay and contended for Best Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actor (Jerry Lewis); it also received a Palme d'Or nomination at the Cannes Film Festival. The London Critics Circle Film Awards presented the movie with the ALFS Award for Film of the Year while the National Society of Film Critics Awards lauded Sandra Bernhard with Best Supporting Actress.

Breaking his streak of films with Robert De Niro as his leading man, Martin Scorsese selected Griffin Dunne (My Girl) to play the main character in After Hours (1985). The dark comedy follows Paul Hackett (Dunne) who experiences a series of misadventures and dangers while making his way home in New York City. The randomness of the events that occur in the movie that also stars Rosanna Arquette (The Whole Nine Yards), Verna Bloom (High Plains Drifter), Terri Garr (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), John Heard (The Pelican Brief), and Linda Fiorentino (The Last Seduction) is inspired by reality. "Violence has always been a pretty scary thing for me, but I'm fascinated by it, especially by the aimlessness of it," remarked Scorsese. "It's always erupting when you don't expect it, particularly in a city like New York. You're sitting in a restaurant, eating and suddenly a car crashes through the window and you're dead. That's happened several times in New York." made on a budget of $4.5 million, After Hours earned $11 million domestically. Rosanna Arquette was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the BAFTAs and Griffin Dunne contended for Best Actor – Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes. The Independent Spirit Awards lauded After Hours with Best Director and Best Feature as well as nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Female Lead (Arquette), and Best Screenplay. Success was found at the Cannes Film Festival where Martin Scorsese won Best Director and the film competed for the Palme d'Or. Complicating matters was a plagiarism lawsuit filed by radio artist Joe Frank who claimed portions of his NPR Playhouse monologue were used in the plot and dialogue of the movie. Never given official credit, Frank received a lucrative financial settlement.

Collaborating with colleague Steven Spielberg (War Horse), Martin Scorsese produced an episode of the NBC anthology television series Amazing Stories called Mirror, Mirror (1986). Sam Waterston (The Killing Fields) portrays an arrogant horror novelist who is pursued by a misshapen face which he can only see when looking at reflective surfaces. Performing with Waterston are Helen Shaver (Desert Hearts), Dick Cavett (Frequency), Tim Robbins (Bull Durham), Harry Northup (Bad Girls), Dana Gladstone (The Presidio) and Valerie Grear (Girls Just want to Have Fun).

Attempting to try something creatively different, Martin Scorsese elected to helm a cinematic project featuring a Hollywood legend and a box office star.

Continue to part three.

For more on the director be sure to visit the Martin Scorsese Fansite and ScorseseFilms.com, along with the BFI documentary A Personal Journey with Scorsese Through American Movies.

Short Film Showcase – What's a Nice Girl like you Doing in a Place like This?
Short Film Showcase – The big Shave

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Sofía Vergara isn't a fan of plastic surgery

However, Helena views cosmetic surgery as a negative deterrent, and believes aging gracefully is the only option for an lengthy stay in Hollywood.
You have two choices. You can have the work done and look weirder, or have nothing done and look older. I think the only way I'll continue to get work is if I don't get anything done.
I can still move all my face muscles! there aren't many who can still do that. Age is underrated. I think what's happening is that directors and the studios want actresses who have natural looks, who haven't had any work done.And just when you thought all actresses were up to the hilt with vanity, the lovely British export, Helena Bonham Carter, adds some context to the current state of the bizarre plastic surgery conundrum, that we call show business.

4 March 2011 Christian Bale’s estranged mother hopes his Oscar win can bring them back together.the actor – who picked up the Academy Award for best Supporting Actor for his role in ‘The Fighter’ at Sunday’s (27.02.11) awards – has not been in contact with mum Jenny since a fall out in 2008 and she admits she was particularly “upset” not to be by his side at the prestigious ceremony.Jenny, 63, said: “I hope this Oscar can bring us together. the family are so pleased for him. This Oscar is well deserved. I saw other celebrities there with their mothers and got upset.“I would have loved to have been there by his side.“I’d love for Christian to walk through the door right now and. I’d give him a big hug and a kiss and we could forget about the last three years. I don’t know why he’s doing this.”The feud between 37-year-old Christian – who has a five-year-old daughter Emme with wife Sibi – and his family started when Jenny, his sister Sharon, 43, and her three children went to his hotel suite before ‘The Dark Knight’ premiered in London in July 2008.while things started off well, Jenny says her son’s mood quickly changed and he became aggressive toward them.At the time, she and Sharon claimed Christian pushed them before throwing them out of his suite, prompting the actor’s sister to make an assault claim to police, which was later dropped.despite her upset, Jenny – who has continued to send birthday and Christmas cards to her son – insists there is no reason why she should offer an apology over the incident.She told the Sun newspaper: “Sharon never forgave him for upsetting her kids. he never forgave her for calling the police.“If I had done something wrong I’d apologise, but I really don’t know why it’s come to this.”

© 2011 NZCity, Bang Showbiz

Gaga revealed her preference for Tomei, who, like the singer, has Italian blood, during an interview on SiriusXM's "The Morning Mash up."Oh, you know what? I would have Marisa Tomei play me. I am such a Marisa Tomei fan," Gaga said. "all my friends call me Marisa when I get angry, because my New York accent just flies out of my body and I start smacking my gum." The 46-year-old Tomei, who won an Academy Award Supporting Actress trophy for 1992's "My Cousin Vinny," also lives in New York just like Gaga.

The Grammy winning singer also said that she may give acting a try in the future. "I think at some point, yes," she replied when asked if she plans to conquer the silver screen. "I think I'm sort of destined for that screen at some point."

Buy Cheapest big Savings on I want to Live [VHS], get Lowest Pirce you Save BIG! and Free Shipping. Order online!.

Features of I want to Live [VHS]

I want to Live [VHS] Description

Susan Hayward won an Academy Award for her performance in the compelling 1958 classic I want to Live! Hayward plays Barbara Graham, a good-time girl with a heart of gold and absolutely no instincts about when to drop a bad association. after bouncing in and out of the prison system for a series of petty crimes, Graham suddenly finds herself framed for murder and facing the death penalty. Hayward is simply marvelous, giving a wrenching, complex performance without ever becoming maudlin. Director Robert Wise ratchets the tension up to a nearly unbearable level, making Barbara's moments of hope as agonizing as those of her despair. The film is based on the story of the real-life Barbara Graham, taken from her letters and interviews with reporter Ed Montgomery. Montgomery himself appears as a character, and the film is surprisingly evenhanded about condemning his own role in Graham's conviction. This is definitely a must-see for Hayward fans. –Ali Davis

Cicely Tyson is one class actress. She is the one that had managed to change how the film industries look at the African-American actress. She managed to make her every role in the movie became alive yet also adore by many people.

Some of you may still remember some of her famous movies like 1977 TV miniseries Roots and the 1972 powerful film, Sounder. two more TV movies, 1974′s The Autobiography of miss Jane Pittman and 1977′s Wilma. those are all some of the most powerful movies that have ever been made making people aware that the African-American can really have the quality of a star.

Cicely Tyson was born on December 19, 1933. At first she was into a modeling career where her magnificent beauty was then spot on by Ebony Magazine. however, she was then beginning to shift her career into film even when at fist, she was only played an insignificant role at her first movie, Carib Gold at 1957.

In 1972, she begin to speak out the world of film industries by getting nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the critically acclaimed Sounder. In 1974, she won two Emmy Awards for The Autobiography of miss Jane Pittman. other acclaimed television roles included Roots, King, in which she portrayed Coretta Scott King, The Marva Collins story, When No One Would Listen and Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All for which she received her third Emmy Award.

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