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February 2007
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Found by Cathy first posted at Deppography and found at MTV
"Rex Mundi": Arvid Nelson's Dark Horse book "Rex Mundi" was optioned
by Warner Bros., which is currently developing the property with Johnny
Depp's production company. There's a good chance that the quirky actor
will also star as the lead: a doctor in search of missing church documents
in a 1930s noir world in which the Catholic Church never lost power and
the Inquisition still roams town. Nelson said a screenplay by the writer
who adapted "Fight Club" should be finished soon. Will audiences be scared
off by the story's religious angle? Nelson doesn't think so. "It would
be a real mistake" not to make the movie controversial, he said.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest one an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Congratulations to all the Crew!
Cross-Blades forum has reopend HERE and Pyrate Fandom has one open HERE
From Highdefdigest
HIGH-DEF DISC NEWS Receive High-Def Disc News via RSS
Fox Brings 'From Hell' Back From Blu-ray Limbo
Thu Feb 22, 2007 at 04:39 PM ET
Tags: Disc Announcements, Fox (all tags)
Bumped from its original December debut, 'From Hell' will finally bow on Blu-ray March 13, Fox Home Entertainment has announced.
The $50 million-grossing Johnny Depp-Heather Graham thriller was first announced as part of Fox's late-2006 Blu-ray wave, then postponed with no explanation.
But now, the title is finally back on the schedule. There are no major changes to its feature lineup, with specs still set to include a 1080p transfer and DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 surround track. Supplements feature an audio commentary, nearly two dozen deleted scenes and a BD-Java-enhanced trivia track.
Retail remains $39.95.
From TVShowsonDVD
Inside the
Actors Studio - Johnny Depp Takes Center Stage In The Next Actors Studio
DVD
Posted by David Lambert 2/21/2007
Just in time for the theatrical debut of the third Pirates of the Caribbean film, Shout! Factory is releasing Inside the Actors Studio - Johnny Depp, which will certainly be of interest to fans of the star of that movie. Cost will be just $14.98 SRP for approximately 90 minutes. The exact street date is May 1st (three weeks before his latest film hits the box office). Here is Shout! Factory's description of this release, extras, and the front cover art:
Johnny Depp is one of the most versatile and intriguing actors working today. Launching his career as a teenage heartthrob, then moving into eccentric roles in films like Edward Scissorhands and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, he has alternated between independent films like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and mainstream blockbusters like Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, leading to the inescapable conclusion that his future is as bright and varied as his vivid, unbridled imagination.
Before the audience at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University and the viewers of Inside the Actors Studio, Depp openly explores issues like being uncomfortable with his teen idol status, his affinity for Edward Scissorhands, his time with the Romanian gypsies and even the impact of becoming a father.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
o "James Lipton:
Flashbacks" (new introductions with James Lipton)
o "Great Moments
That Didn't Make The Cut" (previously unseen segments of the original Johnny
Depp interview
Jeppody at Johnny Depp Reads put up links to the re-broadcast of Johnny on Top of the Pops in the UK Feb 21st. Here is the link to the Johnny Depp Reads Page
From Syakura (Spain)
A few days ago, I was watching TV and I saw a documentary about spanish actors who obtained roles in Hollywood movies. It was broadcast in the spanish canal +. The actors interviewed were Penélope Cuz, Jordi Mollà and others. Penélope and Jordi worked with Johnny in Blow (Penélope as Mirtha Jung, Jordi Mollà as Diego Delgado). Penelope said that Johnny is the best person he has ever met in Hollywood. Jordi Mollà also talked about Johnny and gave us an amazing and beautiful gift, he showed the painting that Johnny made of him.
(See video - link HERE)
Jordi Mollà says:
(Pirates producers offered him a role for Pirates but he rejected it)
Surely Johnny Depp was somewhat involved because I know that the guy
appreciates me a lot, in fact I have a picture he made for me, that is
a beautiful detail. It is a picture... it is a picture that the most beautiful
thing it has... I'm not very fetishist... but it has bees... He lives in
Bela Lugosi's house, in LA, a house from 1900 or something. And, when we
were doing Blow, he began with repairs and they demolished a few columns
and, suddenly, they discovered that it was full of dead bees, probably
because bees doesn't descompose. Then, in this picture there are bees that
come from Bela Lugosi's house - This is a cigar that he always smokes (pointing)-
I hope they offer me another movie whith Johnny Depp, because I've
never seen him again. I'm so fucking discreet, fuck!, that the day that
I said goodbye to him, I didn't even ask him for his phone number or something.
From Syakura the IMDB now has a page for Johnny's Litvinenko Project HERE
From Starpulse
Celebrity Snippets
Johnny Depp* Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, his French girlfriend Vanessa Paradis and their two children are eyeing a move to rural England and are reported to have spent out $6.4 million on a country mansion.
Pirates of the Caribbean is nominated for a Saturn award. List of nominations is HERE
From the Daily Echo
Johnny Depp in Hampshire?
Our story about Johnny Depp being seen in the New Forest has caused quite a stir in the area.
The Forest is buzzing with rumours.
Take a look at out video as we go on the track of Jack Sparrow.
He has been spotted drinking in local pubs, eating in restaurants and it is rumoured that he wants to enrol his children at a local school.
He was even spotted at the perfume counter of a well-known department store.
But the big question is - where's Johnny?
Rumours that Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has taken up residence in Lymington
have been floating around the Georgian town for months.
From Forbes
Hollywood's Best-Paid Stars
Lacey Rose, 02.13.07, 6:30 PM ET
Hollywood can make actors and actresses very, very rich. Or it can make them very well respected. But it usually doesn't do both at the same time.
Consider Forbes' list of the world's best-paid actors and actresses:
The 23 stars on our list collectively earned $553 million over the course
of a year. But only two have a chance of winning a statue at this year's
Oscars, which will air Feb 25. on Disney's (nyse: DIS - news - people )
ABC. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which annually doles
out the coveted awards, has nominated Will Smith for his performance in
Sony's (nyse: SNE - news - people ) The Pursuit of Happyness and Leonardo
DiCaprio for his role in Time Warner-owned Warner Brothers' Blood Diamond.
Though neither is a first time nominee--Smith nabbed a nod for his title
role in Ali and DiCaprio snagged two for What's Eating Gilbert Grape and
The Aviator--a win would mark the first time either took home a statuette.
In Pictures: Hollywood's Best-Paid Stars
Only eight of the actors on this year's list have ever won an Oscar. Among them: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, each of whom scored two. Hanks' came for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump; Washington's for Glory and Training Day; and Foster's for The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs.
And only 14 have ever received a nomination. Hanks and Washington each have five nods, while Foster trails with four. Tom Cruise has garnered three nominations thanks to roles in Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia, but has no gold men to show for it.
The reality: The big coin that has landed many of the stars on our list typically comes from pictures that generate big money at the box office, but few, if any, accolades come award season. Consider Johnny Depp's 2006 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, or Tom Hanks' The Da Vinci Code, which raked in nearly $800 million. Neither earned Oscar nods for its acting.
"The franchises and tent poles that each studio has are just out there to make money," opines Jonathan Kuntz, a film historian at the University of California Los Angeles' department of film, TV and digital media. "But nobody takes these blockbusters, which have become more and more almost comic-bookie, seriously as great films."
Though exceptions exist--New Line's Lord of the Rings franchise won several Oscars a few years back--nominations are typically awarded to the smaller budget, often artistic films, aptly dubbed Oscar bait, from the studio's specialty divisions (Paramount's Vantage or 20th Century Fox's Fox Searchlight, among others). To put it in perspective: This year's best picture contenders collectively raked in only some $280 million at the U.S. box office ($130.7 million of which came from Warner Bros.' The Departed).
But this wasn’t always the case, says Kuntz. "You can point back to the classics era and see that in those days some of the big films with the major stars were also great pictures and won Oscars, with Casablanca being the most classic example," he says. "We just don’t seem to have many films filling that slot nowadays."
To determine which actors and actresses made the most money during the
12-month period, we turned to the 2006 edition of the Forbes' Celebrity
100 list, which ranks the most powerful actors, athletes, chefs and directors
based on their media exposure (magazine covers and TV and radio mentions),
Web presence (number of Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) hits) and
earnings.
From Buzz Sugar
Oscar Nominee: Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest for Art Direction
Fri, 02/16/2007 - 2:33pm by BuzzSugar
Every week up until the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees in the various visual categories. In this final week, I'll be looking at the nominees for best art direction, which encompasses the entire look and feel of a film from the scenery to the lighting. Yesterday, we saw a gallery from The Good Shepherd, and today's featured movie is one I never expected to see written in a sentence alongside "Oscar": Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
The sequel to the original theme-park ride-based movie, Dead Man's Chest
is nothing if not eye candy, and I'm not just talking about Johnny Depp.
In its well-conceptualized fantasy world, you get everything from regal,
tall-masted ships to creepy sea monsters and nautical costumes, all of
which help give the special-effects-heavy movie a unified look and feel.
To see a gallery of images from the movie,
From This is Dorset
February 17, 2007
JOHNNY DEPP HOUSE HUNTING IN NEW FOREST?
By Daily Echo reporter
HOUSEHUNTING: Johnny Depp, as Captain Jack Sparrow
HOLLYWOOD superstar Johnny Depp is thought to be hunting for a house in the New Forest.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star is reported to have been seen in pubs and restaurants around Lymington, and sources at a nearby school says he has approached them about enrolling his children.
Although the star's agent has denied the rumours, it is understood that his children Lily-Rose, seven, and John, four, could be due to start at an exclusive £15,000-a-year private school on the outskirts of the New Forest.
Sources at the school say talks between it and Mr Depp have taken place in the last six months. An insider said: "There has definitely been contact made by Mr Depp.
"Maybe he's thinking of sending his children to the school for the start of the academic year in September?"
Rumours that the star could be relocating to the Lymington area have
been circulating for months. Several areas of the town have already been
earmarked as potential Hollywood haunts. Properties near the town centre,
Woodside and Sowley have all been mentioned.
advertisement
So far, Depp's agents have denied that he is to move to Hampshire.
The official line from Johnny's publicist in California, Robin Baum, was that he was in the country filming.
When asked about the rumours, she replied: "There is absolutely no truth to these rumours.
"Johnny is in England working on a film."
From IESB
Script Review: Edgar Allan Poe Bio Called Forevermore!
Written by Michael Vaal
Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Our long time contributor Michael Vaal is back but this time looking at a spec script called Forvermore based on the life of Edgar Allan Poe. Unlike his past script reviews such as The Mummy III and D?J? VU, he actually likes this one.
I have been sitting on this script for a liitle while and I did enjoy the read but since I am not the biggest authority on Edgar Allan Poe I figured that I should send it over to Mr. Vaal for his expert advice.
From what I have heard this script has had very favorable reads over at a couple agencies and I hear that it has made it to Johnny Depp's office. So is Johnny finally going to play Poe? It would be great but who knows. He has shown interest in the past and has even mentioned that Poe is one if his favorite authors. So only time will tell. So without any further delay, here is Forevermore.
A script review of FOREVERMORE
by Michael Vaal
Okay, I know my column ?Plot Holes? is as irregularly appearing as it is generally negative in tone. But can you blame me? Look at the CRAP we?ve been subjected to at theaters recently. Oiy! Don?t get me started.
So, after I had torn the D?J? VU script a new one in my previous column (btw, if you?ve seen the movie, did I lie?! I can?t bring myself to see if it sucked more or sucked less than the script), Robert Sanchez wanted me to take a look at ?something special? ? a ?spec? script starting to make the rounds in Hollywood. From Wikipedia one sees that ?spec? is short for speculative, meaning the writer has written the piece on their own time, not as a work for hire for a studio or production company. The goal is then to sell to (or set the project up with) a studio or production company. Some specs are meant purely to sell, while others are intended to be directed by the writer, and finally, some specs are designed to become writing samples (designed to get paying work) or they become so if they?ve made the rounds in Hollywood and have been passed on.
This intrigued me, as I had half expected to be handed the next big comic book movie, RED LONGJOHNS or SOUL STRIPPER (they?re really scraping the bottom of the DC/Marvel barrel these days for characters to license, aren?t they?). But now it was clear that he wouldn?t be asking me to take a look at a spec if he didn?t have a good reason.
So the screenplay he handed me is called FOREVERMORE by an apparently new screenwriter, Grant Boucher. Robert pointed me to his website www.grantboucher.com and he appears to be a visual effects guy who?s turned to screenwriting as a path towards possibly directing. He?s also written some Star Wars stuff and movie reviews for IESB.net (but let me say for the record that I think CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY sucked compared to the original), hence the connection to Robert and now to me. Fair enough. But this information immediately geared my expectations towards a ?big effects extravaganza?, heavily weighted towards style over substance.
Image
I couldn?t have been more wrong.
In short, FOREVERMORE is a most worthy effort and surprisingly unique.
And no, I?m not being facetious (don?t get used to it!). Read along and I?ll tell ya why I dig.
THE HISTORY OF EDGAR ALLAN POE ON THE SILVER SCREEN
One of America?s first and foremost writers, Mr. Poe died some 150 years ago. A man to whom Edgar had given a negative review stole the rights to Edgar?s work and life and wrote some truly terrible lies about the man in order to besmirch his memory as an act of posthumous revenge. Unfortunately, those lies become legendary and the legends and myths about Edgar Allan Poe soon outstripped the facts about him?ironically guaranteeing the writer?s immortality. Ever since then, teen and adult readers have discovered and been moved by Edgar?s usually first person examinations of the darker sides of human nature as well as some of the most beautiful and yet haunting poetry every written. For more on Edgar?s life and works, here is the Wikipedia entry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_allan_poe.
Since the advent of moving pictures there have been many attempts to bring his work to the silver screen. Usually this involves the ?Stephen King? (a disciple of Edgar?s) approach, wherein a single short story is padded out into a two hour film with additional characters and subplots. The original ?classics? were made by UK low budget horror schlockhouse Hammer Films decades ago. Their only redeeming value came from the presence of a master thespian named Vincent Price ? a man who was one of the only actors to ever really ?get? Poe. Listening to Price, one is sure that you?re hearing a true rendition of Edgar?s inner monologue. But I digress.
Since then, from time to time, another bad Poe movie or TV episode surfaces (i.e. Masters of Horror keeps mining these waters, never even rising to the level of mediocrity), with only The Simpsons Halloween episode (with James Earl Jones reading The Raven) standing out amidst the continuous drizzle of Poe dreck.
This is most likely because Hollywood has tended to focus exclusively on the horror aspects of Poe?s work in the never-ending pursuit of quick and easy profits. As a side note, this is why there are so many horror films and yet the number of truly standout ones can be counted on one or two hands (depending on your tolerance for watching garbage). It?s also why I wouldn?t consider myself a huge fan of horror, even though I count ALIEN, SE7EN, and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS as some of my all-time favorite films.
Because of the nature of the material (and the fact that the rights to Edgar?s works long ago passed into the public domain), there are ALWAYS Poe scripts circulating throughout Hollywood?s development circles. And while I have not read them myself, reliable reports are that each they range from weak to abysmal.
Image
For example, Sylvester Stallone has a script he?s written (to direct)
which he?d like Robert Downey Jr. to star in. While this is a great
choice of actor (and reportedly Downey Jr. is married to a distant relative
of Edgar?s), unfortunately Sly?s script is reportedly one of those weak
efforts. This is disappointing because Stallone can be a VERY good
writer. Not many people realize he *wrote* ROCKY and FIRST BLOOD
? two exceptionally good films from stem to stern. Yet, though his
love and empathy for Edgar?s story is admirable, rendering the life and
works of a visual and psychological master like Poe requires a level of
creative writing and dramatic visualization that goes beyond anything that?s
been done before.
So, in short, POE has become a recurring theme in Hollywood, usually described alongside words such as ?low budget? and ?bad horror?. Yet so many amazing people have been moved by Edgar?s life and works in so many ways, it?s ironic to realize that no one has even come close to capturing the real ?essence? of America?s preeminent master of the macabre?
?until now.
FOREVERMORE
Poe often opened his stories with a quote from a contemporary or other influential author. This screenwriter, having done his homework, does likewise. I doubt I am violating any copyright by including this publically available quote here (formatted per the screenplay).
FADE IN:
SUPERIMPOSE -
The only people for me are the mad ones,
the ones who are mad to live,
mad to talk,
mad to be saved,
desirous of everything at the same time,
the ones who never yawn
or say a commonplace thing,
but burn, burn, burn
like fabulous yellow roman candles
exploding like spiders across the stars.
- Jack Kerouac
FADE OUT:
Click to enlarge
Jack Kerouac?! JACK friggin KEROUAC?! How cool is that?!
The writer opens a story about 19th century Poe with a quote from the modern
day On the Road author, drunkard, and beatnik burnout?! So yeah,
it made me want to read on.
Right from the outset we learn that Edgar is dying on the streets of Baltimore, in the ubiquitous gutter scene. But what I didn?t realize until I read the Wikipedia entry to fact check the next beat, is that Edgar doesn?t die in that gutter. He dies five days later in a drunk tank hospital bed, detoxing from whatever poisons are in his system.
Normally, biographies take one of two conceits. One is to choose a key week (or moment) in the life of the subject and examine it for significance to the overall main character. For example, FOR LOVE OF THE GAME follows this idea, with flashbacks sprinkled throughout the big game.
The other is to try and find a way to present all of the key moments in the subject?s life, in the hopes of gaining an appreciation of the whole. Good examples of this would be AMADEUS, RAY, and WALK THE LINE.
Surprisingly, FOREVERMORE successfully blends BOTH conceits. And it is this ingenious but risky decision that sets this life story apart.
As Edgar lies dying in his hospital bed, his life flashes before his eyes. For FIVE DAYS he is dying. And during this week of Hell, he?s not only reliving his real life memories, but his dreams, nightmares, poems, and stories, all blended together in a special place the writer has christened ?Dreamland?.
Therefore, the movie goes back and forth between the present day scenes (re: Edgar on his deathbed) and his Dreamland travels. Both stories are distinct and linear until they violently converge during the third act.
Throughout the story, Edgar?s present day waking moments have a transformative affect on the rather crass nurse Madeline who is taking care of Edgar, the ?celebrity patient?. As a character, she represents the members of the audience who know nothing of Edgar or his work but what they?ve read in the papers, etc. Countering her is the self-righteous Doctor Moran, a firm advocate of the temperance movement of the day (an early form of prohibition). Remarkably, he too is transformed by those five days, as is his relationship with his staff.
Meanwhile, Edgar is due to be married in a week?s time, though there is one thing (in addition to his detoxification) standing in his way.
And this is where a very solid biopic becomes a truly great film. Very early on, we are introduced to Edgar?s nemesis, enigmatically named The Shadow. The nature of their rivalry is the guiding thread of the story and is analogous to the way the envious Salieri?s murder confession drives the ruin of Mozart (and the plot) in AMADEUS.
Who or what is The Shadow and what it means to Edgar and the audience/reader is at the very core of FOREVERMORE. And I won?t spoil it for you here. :)
What I will say is that as far as Edgar is concerned, The Shadow is responsible for the death of everyone he has ever loved, and Edgar now fears that The Shadow is stalking his current betrothed.
Further complicating matters for Edgar is the fact that his new bride, Sarah, was his first true love as a teen. When he lost her to another man due to the machinations of her father, Edgar?s work turned from light and happy to dark and despondent. It was then that he met his soul mate, Virginia, who echoes Edgar?s love of the macabre and occult. Together, they love during the period when Edgar writes his best known works. The Raven, for example, is interwoven with Virginia?s ultimate fate in a way that is absolutely devastating. Since this is the piece the world remembers him, I will never think of The Raven the same way again after reading it within the pages of FOREVERMORE.
And now, without revealing too much more of the story, this thought makes a nice transition to my Kudos and Criticisms of FOREVERMORE.
KUDOS, WELCOME TO DREAMLAND
Click to enlarge
I mentioned the ?use of The Raven? before. The miraculous thing
about FOREVERMORE is that the screenwriter has mined Edgar?s own words
and characters throughout the story. There are entire scenes comprised
of dialogue that comes directly from poems written by Edgar. And
not just one story, mind you. It seems like the screenwriter has
incorporated ALL of Edgar?s stories herein (or at least all the ones I
can remember). The characters (real or imagined), settings, triumphs,
and tribulations weave in and amongst each other in a literary and visual
symphony.
This works in large part because Edgar was such a diverse and exceptionally prolific writer. In fact, ALL of the character dialog in Dreamland is written in rhyming couplets ? yes, poetry.
Okay, okay, no I?m not going soft in the head. It?s not THAT flowery. This is POE after all. Rhyming about decaying corpses turns out to be kind of cool. Like THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS without the singing?and claymation.
This POEtic license sets the present day Hospital reality scenes apart from the fantastic painterly Dreamland sequences ? think WHAT DREAMS MAY COME without all the New Age Cuban Gooding Jr. hooey.
Format note: The screenwriter has courteously boldfaced the word ?Dreamland? in the Scene Headings where appropriate. While I am normally a HUGE stickler on proper screenplay formatting, this allowed me to always tell the real world from the fantasy world at a glance. Nice touch.
Now, since I could not find a lot of these dialogue lines by searching Google for Poe?s works, I can only assume that the screenwriter has complimented Poe?s words with his own throughout the screenplay. As such, the whole reads like one long unpublished Poe story, and I can honestly say I can?t tell where one writer begins and the other ends.
Even as a work of literary adaptation FOREVERMORE is remarkable ? combining the life and works of a single author into one cohesive whole. But as a screenplay? I?ve never seen (or even heard of) anything like it. It uses more of the Poe?s own words and characters than does SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, for example, yet its language is much more accessible than any modern Shakespeare film treatment.
FOREVERMORE is a live action narrative poem in screenplay form. Yet it works.
Yeah yeah, you want to know ?How is the STORY!!??
Edgar lived one Hell of a difficult life and it?s all in here. Besides the expected horror, death, triumph, and tragedy, there exists a rather unique love triangle, SEX (two very hot scenes I might add), romance, action, and adventure, all wrapped up in a visually stunning m?lange of reality and fantasy.
And let me remind you again, this is about the life of a quirky, dark American poet?a POET for crying out loud! Even without the whole ?this is a true story? aspect of FOREVERMORE, this is a great exploration of what drove Edgar Allan Poe to the edge of the abyss and back again.
And FOREVERMORE even ends on a dark but ?up? note. Bravo!
CAVEATS, PLOT ?PIN PRICKS?
This wouldn?t be a column of mine if I didn?t poke plot holes in this. While it?s pretty goddamn hard to nitpick FOREVERMORE, I?m not above trying. :)
Love story. While I do buy the ?soul mates? aspect of Edgar and Virginia?s relationship, I wanted to see more of them falling in love. However, this would have added to the page count during the second act (which is ALL Virginia and Edgar) so I can see why it?s been kept so tight. After reading it, however, I don?t care about page count with this script anymore. I?d gladly read a 400+ page novel written like this over and over again. So, more Virginia and Edgar please.
Language. Bringing the life and works of a writer to the big screen has heretofore been less than successful (FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS comes to mind as close but no cigar), since film is primarily a visual medium. And yet we fall in love with most writers (Edgar in particular) due to their words ? the turn of a phrase makes all the difference. And while the English language of Edgar?s time is not nearly as archaic as that of Shakespeare, there are still a few times when I had to turn to a dictionary to be sure I understood the nuances of a given word. Fortunately, those are few and far between and the actions of the characters still drive the story regardless.
Voice over. Along these same lines, there is some voice over in the opening act, when Edgar is young, but it goes away once he reaches the age of (presumably) whatever actor would play the part. The voice-over comes from the spiritual character of POE, who takes a kind of SUNSET BOULEVARD approach to introducing us to Edgar?s inner ?demonologue?. As a rule of thumb, voice over is to be avoided since film is about ?showing it rather than saying it?, but given that this is the story of a WRITER, there is surprisingly very little voice over in toto. I?d guess that there?s less than half of that found in THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, for example, and all of it is MUCH better written than the redundant drivel found in MILLION DOLLAR BABY. Importantly, the voice over is all but gone by the end of the first act, and I can?t see replacing this elements with anything other than a ?ghost? character of some kind. And THAT?S a worse device in my opinion, so it seems a ?damned if you do or damned if you don?t? decision. So I?m going to give my vote to keeping the voice over as is, since they are in Edgar?s own words after all.
Length. This script is very tight and very dense. I had to read it twice to see everything clearly, but then again I wanted to. I haven?t done that since AMERICAN BEAUTY crossed my desk. And while its page count comes in just over 120 pages, I have no doubt the actual film will be longer than 120 minutes. Since the masterpiece BRAVEHEART script was 142 pages long (for three hours of runtime) I don?t think this is a problem for something as good as FOREVERMORE. But some readers/agents won?t look at anything over 120 pages?period. In my humble opinion, that?s their loss.
Threads. In today?s MEMENTO driven editing environment, there might be a take on this material that is more non-linear, but I doubt it would be as easy to read as this is. Too complicated stories (i.e. SYRIANA, MEMENTO, and THE FOUNTAIN) have sometimes turned off large portions of the general audience ? leaving them to be only truly appreciated by the Hollywood filmmaking community. Whereas movies with some limited back and forth (i.e. BABEL, AMADEUS, and AMERICAN BEAUTY) seem to work across a broader audience (and the voting Academy members). I don?t think I want to read the MEMENTO take on this, but it might be worth watching if this gets made.
Finally, and most importantly, despite my minor criticisms above, FOREVERMORE is clearly an ingenious screenplay. Call me cynical (me?! Nah never), but I suspect that this means it?s going to fly right past a lot of Hollywood intern readers and never make it high enough up the ladder to have a chance of getting read by the kind of people who would see this as Academy Award fare. Sigh.
Now, of course, this is all just my opinion. I could be wrong?but I'm not. :)
ADDENDUM: WHERE IS FOREVERMORE TODAY?
Once I had this review done, I asked Robert Sanchez what was up with this as a project. Expecting a Hollywood horror story, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that apparently a handful of people in Hollywood have given it excellent coverage. Maybe my cynicism about Hollywood is unfounded? Well, at least until the MUMMY III gets made. :)
Significantly, Robert mentioned that FOREVERMORE was written with Johnny Depp (!) in mind. Before reading this, I would have thought that was an odd (nay insane?) choice, given all I knew about Edgar from High School lit classes?which looks like it was all wrong.
But upon reading FOREVERMORE, I get it. There is horror, sex, action, tragedy, romance, and adventure here. And yet, it?s a sort-of reimagining of the ?mad artist? character into something more relevant to a modern audience. The script shows BOTH sides of Edgar, leaving the audience to choose from the facts AND the legends.
And in this light, with this kind of story, with these visuals and story, this would be a dream project for ANY actor. It runs the gamut of human emotions through the true story of one of America?s finest and most misunderstood writers. That?s the sort of story that the Academy traditionally loves to accolade.
According to Robert, FOREVERMORE is ?with Depp?s people? now, so if Johnny doesn?t go ape for this, I?d be VERY surprised. Given his past roles and major influences, it does seem painfully up his alley. ;)
Finally, I?d like to thank Robert for giving me the chance to read,
and write about, something really good for a change. For better or
worse, this has inspired me to get back to work on my novel. Heaven
help us all. :)
From MTV
(excerpt)
MTV Movie News | Matches Made In Movie Heaven: Cameron And Owen? Jake And Natalie?
Have you ever found yourself watching a really bad romantic comedy, deciding that some other mixture of a lead and co-star would be far more interesting than the two actors you had paid to see get together?
Focusing on the word "chemistry," this February 14 got us thinking about perfect movie pairings. If you just put these stars in the same room, the dopamine would start to flow. Heck, we wouldn't even mind seeing a few of these couples in the tabloids with a real romance. So, in the timeless words of Sam Cooke: Cupid, draw back your bow — and let your arrow flow.
Johnny Depp and Renée Zellweger
There's nothing particularly normal about either Johnny Depp or Renée Zellweger — they both boast an eccentricity that makes their choices and performances all the more riveting.
Depp, especially, has earned recent kudos for his offbeat, colorful portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean," a performance so original it shocked and tickled audiences to the tune of over $1 billion worldwide. But Zellweger's choices are no less stark. Consider that after the comedy "Bridget Jones's Diary" (for which she received her first Oscar nomination) Zellweger went on to star in a musical ("Chicago"), an ode to '60s romantic comedies ("Down With Love"), two period films ("Cinderella Man" and "Cold Mountain") and an animated fish story ("Shark Tale").
We'd love to see the two of them in some kind of true-life tale of oddity
and obsession. Imagine if Andy Kaufman or Hunter S. Thompson had a girlfriend
equally as nuts, and they were out on the road together, and you're beginning
to get the idea
From Cinematical
Does Johnny Depp Know How The Dead Love?
Posted Feb 14th 2007 11:32AM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Animation, Drama, Casting, Deals
Just when it seemed like Johnny Depp was making the change from interesting,
thought-provoking roles to family movie dynamo, he has completely changed
the tables on us. We've previously brought you news on his role in Sweeney
Todd, that has him getting into character by slicing through the air like
a madman. He's also working on the upcoming Shantaram, a crime drama, and
The Rum Diary, his next foray into the world of Hunter S. Thompson. Perhaps
inspired by his return to meaty, North American writers from the 60's,
Depp is now reportedly taking on a little Charles Bukowski.
According to TMZ (which got it right on The Hardy Men), Depp will both voice the main character and produce a project that brings four of Bukowski's short stories into one animated feature. The flick has been in the works for a while -- you can find mention of it from the Bangkok International Film Festival back in 2005, when it still had the name of the Bukowski's short story, The Way the Dead Love. Now it is called How the Dead Love, and I wonder if they changed the name to differentiate it from the first version of the script, penned by Bruce Wagner.
Regardless, Depp is teaming with Gabor Csupo to create the film. If
you're an animation fan, you've seen his work in the first three Simpsons
seasons, as well as in Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. However, before
you think that this will be family-fied, Csupo has insisted that the adaptation
will be a movie for adults, much more like R. Crumb's work than his own
Thornberrys fare, which is an apt choice, considering the fact that Crumb
collaborated with Bukowski on books such as The Captain is Out to Lunch
and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship. Captain Jack Sparrow is great
and all, but I'm happy to see Depp returning to the meaty literature.
From ABC News
Happy Valentine's
By Elaine Ford. Posted: Wednesday, February 14 2007 .
Awww shucks... it seems some Aussies say their dream date for Valentine's Day is their own partner rather than any celebrity.
An online survey of more than 5,000 people found next on the list of love in the celebrity stakes was for guys: Eva Longoria and Cameron Diaz, and for gals: Johnny Depp and Daniel Craig.
At the wrong end of the list, the Hollywood celeb that didn't rate even
one vote was David Hasselhoff - he was beaten in popularity by Australian
Sunrise host, David Koch. and "the guy from Deal or No Deal" Andrew O’Keefe.
From TMZ
Johnny Depp Getting Animated About Bukowski
Posted Feb 13th 2007 7:13PM by Claude Brodesser-Akner
Johnny Depp and Gabor CsupoBreaking News: Forget "Dead Man's Chest."
Johnny Depp has just boarded a fascinating new film project called "How
the Dead Love," an animated film that mines four short stories from the
hard-living poet and quintessentially L.A. novelist, Charles Bukowski.
What's more, he's doing it with Gabor Csupo, the Hungarian-born animator
and producer behind the first three seasons of "The Simpsons," as well
as the subsequent Nickelodeon hit shows and movies "Rugrats" and "The Wild
Thornberrys."
From Variety
'Pirates' plunders visual f/x awards
'Chest' takes six VES trophies
By DAVID S. COHEN
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" raided the Visual Effects
Society Awards Sunday night and sailed off with six wins, including the
two top awards: outstanding visual effects in a visual-effects-driven picture
and single visual effect of the year.
The box office blockbuster, with effects by Industrial Light & Magic,entered the night with the most nominations, and won every category for which it was nominated. Other wins for "Pirates" were animated character in a live-action motion picture (for pic's villain, Davy Jones); created environment in a live-action motion picture; models and miniatures in a motion picture; and compositing in a motion picture.
"Flags of Our Fathers," from Digital Domain, took honors for supporting visual effects in a motion picture. In the special effects category, in a battle of brothers, "Casino Royale" and Chris Corbould beat out "Superman Returns" and Neil Corbould.
Presenter John Landis told the aud that when he started in movies, exploitation pics were often pretty good until the monster or spaceship showed up. "Today," he said, "you see absolutely amazing (VFX) work. The difference is the movies are shit."
On the television side, "Battlestar Galactica" took two kudos, for visual effects in a broadcast series and models and miniatures in a broadcast program. "ER" took honors for supporting visual effects for its episode "Scoop and Run."
The Travelers insurance commercial "Snowball" also took two awards.
One category, pre-rendered graphics in a videogame, was dropped from the competish when it was discovered the entries were ineligible. The VES says the category will return next year.
ILM had plenty of reason to celebrate at the banquet. Besides its six wins for "Pirates," George Lucas' San Francisco-based visual f/x titan saw longtime supervisor Dennis Muren feted with the VES' lifetime achievement award, presented by Lucas.
Besides Lucas, among those saluting the eight-time Oscar winner were Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, who sent regards on tape. Spielberg called his work with Muren on "E.T.," "Jurassic Park," and "War of the Worlds" "a match made in heaven."
In thanking the VES, Muren said that among his current activities is a project with Pixar that would be "a dramatic synthesis of effects and animation."
This was the first year for the VES Awards at the Kodak Grand Ballroom
in Hollywood and saw the biggest attendance yet at the rapidly growing
event.
From Mobile Gazette an interesting article about how Motorola tries to sell their cell phones by putting Johnny's photo in their ads.
From Emma
Total Film celebrates ten years
Click to see full size
Kevin Smith and Johnny Depp join the birthday party!
06/02/07 – Future’s movie magazine, Total Film celebrates its tenth birthday next month with as it counts down the ultimate icons of the last decade and talks exclusively with its number one, Hollywood heart throb, Johnny Depp.
In a bumper birthday issue, Total Film looks back over the last ten years, in a massive countdown of top tens – from greatest scenes, to the best soundtrack albums, as well as recounting all the action from an entire decade.
With Johnny Depp topping the magazine’s choice of its ultimate icons, the man behind countless independent smashes and the blockbusting Captain Jack Sparrow gives Total Film a World Exclusive interview on Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World’s End. As the eagerly anticipated Pirates sequel is set to be 2007s biggest movie, the 10th birthday issue of Total Film dedicates its special gatefold cover to the movie, showcasing the five main characters, and also gives away a giant A1-sized Pirates poster.
The 10th birthday issue also comes with a limited edition Clerks II DVD from Paramount Pictures, packed with bonus features and extras not included on the retail double-disc set, which hits stores on Monday, 19th February. The director and star of Clerks II, Kevin Smith joins Total Film to guest edit the magazine’s monthly home entertainment section Lounge, which lists this the biggest DVD and gaming releases for the month ahead.
Alongside the festivities and special guests, Total Film takes a look at the latest movies, including Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, George Clooney’s The Good German, as well as The Illusionist, Sleeping Dogs and School for Scoundrels.
Nev Pierce is Editor of Total Film:
“Over the last 10 years Total Film has established itself as Britain’s most passionate movie magazine – and it’s terrific to celebrate our birthday by nabbing an exclusive with Johnny Depp and letting Kevin Smith get his hands dirty editing part of the mag. I’m delighted to be editing Total Film as we move into our second decade – which is, of course, going to be even better than the first…”
Publisher of Future’s film and TV portfolio, Simon Maxwell, added:
“Total Film’s tenth birthday is a real milestone in its history. This year will see the magazine going from strength to strength as we look to work with a number of key partners on initiatives to extend the brand and make it even more synonymous with the world of film. This will be Future’s biggest year so far in terms of promotional budget to drive Total Film forward in this competitive market. We’ve enjoyed great success over the last ten years and we are now fully geared up for an exciting year ahead.”
The 10th birthday issue of Total Film goes on sale Thursday, 15th February
– with a coverprice of £3.70, including a FREE Clerks 2 DVD and an
A1 Pirates of the Caribbean poster.
From Magical Mountain (confirmation on what was reported on our POTC3 site a couple of weeks ago)
The Disneyland Resort website has announced that Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End, will be premiering at Disneyland on May 19, 2007.
The movie will be shown on a screen that will be constructed on Tom Sawyer Island, which has been closed for refurbishment. The audience will be seated on a stage currently being constructed at the Rivers of America water front.
Guests who are planning to attend the premier that day, or even just the park in general, should be prepared. Park hours will be 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and areas such as Adventureland, Frontierland, Critter County, and New Orleans Square will be closing around 3:00p.m. to allow for setup. Parade schedules and guided tours will also most likely be affected that day. California Adventure will be open that day with extended hours from 10:00a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
For more information about Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End
visit FlickDirect.com.
From the BBC
February 9, 2007
(excerpt)
Obituary: Ian Richardson
With his threatening, sardonic look and his cut-glass accent, Ian Richardson became a household name in the BBC's House of Cards trilogy.
He once said: "If you have been on stage playing Hamlet at 24, as I did, that experience is so traumatic and scary that nothing you encounter again can ever equal it."
In 2005 he said: Francis Urquart has been the best opportunity for my reputation. The only trouble is getting rid of it. So many people seem to think that I am like him."
Richardson's other notable parts included Lord Groan in the BBC's adaptation of Gormenghast, and the movie From Hell with Johnny Depp.
He was last seen on TV at Christmas on Sky One as the narrator, the Voice of Death, in Hogfather, the Terry Pratchett work.
The actor was awarded a CBE in the 1989 New Year's Honours List.
Related news from Hello Magazine
VANESSA PARADIS
RETURNS TO THE STAGE IN PARIS
8 FEBRUARY 2007
Fans of French singer Vanessa Paradis were in for a treat this week when Johnny Depp's 34-year-old partner made a rare appearance at a Paris charity gig. The multi-talented celeb - she also acts and models - sang alongside other well-known Gallic music stars at Tuesday's Aids fundraising event.
Vanessa, who was just 15 years old when she shot to fame in the Eighties with the hit single Joe Le Taxi, was joined by former tennis player-turned-crooner Yannick Noah at the city's legendary Olympia music hall.
Despite her early rise to stardom, Vanessa keeps a more low-key profile
these days, spending time with Johnny and their two children, Jack and
Lily-Rose, at their £1.5-million family home in Plan de la Tour in
the South of France. It is there that the photogenic couple are, according
to reports, due to wed this summer in a small, private ceremony.
From Ultimate Guitar
Ringo Starr To Honor Oasis At Brits
Ringo Starr is to present Oasis with their outstanding achievement award at next month's Brit Awards, it has been claimed.
The former Beatle is understood to have been asked to give the Gallagher brothers the award at the event in London.
Apparently Johnny Depp was set to make the presentation but has been forced to pull out, presenting Noel and Liam with an opportunity to meet Starr for the first time.
Ringo's son, Zak Starkey, is the current drummer in Oasis, having replaced Alan White in 2005 and played on their last LP, Don't Believe The Truth.
The 2007 Brit Awards take place at London's Earls Court on February 14 and will be presented by British comedian Russell Brand.
Scissor Sisters, the Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Take That, and
Oasis are expected to be among the ceremony live performers.
From Yahoo News
Sunday February 4, 11:18 AM
Johnny Depp a 'humble soul'
Renowned Indian director Mira Nair said Hollywood actor Johnny Depp is a humble soul with none of the trappings of stardom, a report said Friday.
Depp is to play the lead in Nair's new movie Shantaram about an Australian fugitive on the run who arrives in Mumbai, sets up a free clinic in a shanty town and works for the city's crime bosses.
"For all the stratospheric box-office status, he's a humble soul. He's generally inquisitive about the world," Nair told The Mumbai Mirror newspaper. "He considers Shantaram his bible."
Nair believes she was picked by producers Warner Brothers because of her knowledge of India's financial capital Mumbai, where the film will be shot. She did not give any dates on when filming would begin.
"It's set in my beloved city of Mumbai. Shantaram is set in the 1980s Mumbai at a time when I was in the city," she said. "I guess it was my love for Mumbai city, my knowledge of the script and their fondness for my work that clinched the matter."
The movie is based on a best-selling book by Gregory David Roberts drawn from his experiences when he escaped from an Australian high-security prison in 1980 and later fled to Mumbai where he worked for a mafia boss.
Nair, who splits her time between homes in New York, New Delhi and Kampala, Uganda, has directed Vanity Fair, Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay!
Her latest movie The Namesake is based on a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning
Indian-born American author Jhumpa Lahiri about an Indian family's assimilation
into American culture.
From Amazon
Or Search
| Want to help the animals effected by Hurricane Katrina? Here
are some links:
http://www.noahswish.org/Donations.htmhttp://www.bestfriends.org/ http://www.nsalamerica.org/ar/index.htmlwww.peta.com http://www.puppymillrescue.com/donate.htmInternation Fund for Whild Animals "For people who left animals in homes or at boarding facilities in the New Orleans, please call 225-578-6111 and leave their name, address of confined animal, species, number of animals, and when food would have run out. We will go house-to-house as soon as we can. The phones are being manned by the LSU Veterinary School and Department of Agriculture." |
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