Most realistic gambling movies according Jeff Ma, the true life character in ’21′
In the movie "21," opening in theaters Friday, Jim Sturgess plays an MIT student and math whiz who learns the ways of card-counting and joins an elite gambling club so that he can pay his tuition. The movie is based on a book called "Bringing Down the House," and the book is based on the real-life experiences of Jeff Ma.
This morning I spoke with Ma, who had just arrived back in his San Francisco office from a night of partying in New York City. He admitted that the film based on his life was pretty Hollywood-ized--although he was not bothered that his character is being played by the decidedly un-Asian Sturgess.
"My race is important to me, but when people were asking me who I would want to play me in a movie, I wasn't saying Jet Li or Chow Yun Fat," he said. "I was saying Topher Grace."
(LA Times)
‘Nuremberg’ screenwriter Abby Mann dies
Abby Mann, writer of socially conscious scripts for movies and television and winner of the 1961 Academy Award for adapted screenplay for "Judgment at Nuremberg," has died at 80.
Writers Guild of America spokesman Gregg Mitchell said Mann died Tuesday. The cause of death was not given.
Mann also won multiple Emmys, including one in 1973 for "The Marcus-Nelson Murders," which created a maverick New York police detective named Theo Kojak. The film, starring Telly Savalas, was spun off into the long-running TV series "Kojak."
(Yahoo)
BEHIND THE SCENES TV: Tom Cruise spoof on the new ‘Superhero Movie’
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzIM5Ya0yYM[/video]
Elizabeth Banks to play Laura Bush in Oliver Stone movie
Elizabeth Banks is going from the world of adult films to the White House.
The actress, who recently wrapped shooting Kevin Smith's comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," is in final negotiations to portray first lady Laura Bush in "W," Oliver Stone's biopic on the life and presidency of George W. Bush.
Josh Brolin ("No Country For Old Men") already is on board to play the president. Shooting begins in late April in Shreveport, La.
Stone, who wrote the screenplay with his "Wall Street" collaborator Stanley Weiser, has said he plans to make "a fair, true portrait" of Bush, focusing on such areas as his relationship with his father, President George H.W. Bush, his wild youth, and his conversion to Christianity.
Banks, 34, starred in the three "Spider-Man" films, "Seabiscuit" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."
Hoosiers cheer when Johnny Depp shows up for ‘Public Enemies’ movie about John Dillinger
Heeeere’s Johnny!
Hundreds of fans, some of whom waited hours outside the Old Lake County Courthouse and jail hoping to catch a glimpse of movie star Johnny Depp despite word around the set that filming would be taking place solely indoors. They were rewarded late Monday morning when Depp showed up.
The crowd erupted into loud cheers as Depp dashed into the old sheriff’s house. Depp is playing bank robber John Dillinger in the movie ‘‘Public Enemies.’’
Depp smiled and waved at the crowd, put his hands together in a prayer-like gesture, offering a slight forward bow, then touched his right hand to his heart in appreciation.
(Chicago Tribune)
Richard Widmark, Actor, Dies at 93
Richard Widmark, who created a villain in his first movie role who was so repellent and frightening that the actor became a star overnight, died Monday at his home in Roxbury, Conn. He was 93
His death was announced Wednesday morning by his wife, Susan Blanchard. She said that Mr. Widmark had fractured a vertebra in recent months and that his conditioned had worsened.
As Tommy Udo, a giggling, psychopathic killer in the 1947 gangster film “Kiss of Death,” Mr. Widmark tied up an old woman in a wheelchair (played by Mildred Dunnock) with a cord ripped from a lamp and shoved her down a flight of stairs to her death.
(New York Times)
Jim Sturgess Goes Up Against the House
He'd never been to Vegas and he'd never played blackjack. Gambling meant "the horse races and the dog track … and fruit machines (slots)," and Vegas was an "iconic place" of casinos and indulgence.
But for 26-year-old British actor Jim Sturgess, the role of Ben Campbell, an MIT student who hustles casinos for hundreds of thousands of dollars, in the movie "21," was something he couldn't pass up. The newcomer sat down with Rolling Stone's Peter Travers on "Popcorn" on ABC News Now to discuss his new film and the age-old temptations of Sin City.
The movie, opening Friday, March 28, is based on Ben Mezrich's best-selling book, "Bringing Down the House," the true story of a group of MIT students who did just that — won big at a number of Las Vegas casinos, lived the high life and then... got busted for it.
(ABC News)
BEHIND THE SCENES TV: BAFTA Interview with late director Anthony Minghella
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFJ1cdZR_Ro[/video]
Filmmaker to Shoot Chicago Thriller in Single Take
In the Orson Welles classic Touch of Evil, the director's opening scene was a long, elaborate tracking shot famed for its intricate choreography. The feat was later duplicated in Goodfellas and The Player.
Writer/director Aram Rappaport is taking the idea and blowing it up for his new thriller, Helix. Plans are under way to shut down several areas of Chicago so the 100-minute crime drama can be shot in a single take.
The films stars Alexa Vega (Spy Kids, Repo! The Genetic Opera) as a woman suddenly abducted by two desperate young men.
According to producer James Toland of the independent production company Windward Entertainment, the movie will be shot in its entirety once a day for five successive days.
(Wired)
Recession, post-strike blues grip town
The wave of euphoria that swept over Hollywood following the end of the WGA strike has been replaced by a whole new set of emotions: anxiety, depression, fear, nervousness -- and anger.
One month after scribes put down their pickets, a March malaise has set in, with folks in town wondering when -- or if -- things will get back to "normal."
There are significantly fewer TV pilots, budgets for series are being cut back, feature films are being put on hold in fear of a SAG walkout, and the shifts in the TV and film skeds have meant either accelerated workloads or prolonged unemployment.
And all this is occurring as everyone is feeling the pinch of an overall economy that’s in or heading into recession.
(Variety)