...and don't call me Shirley

Hotlips O'Houlihan: "I wonder how such a degenerated person ever reached a position of authority in the Army Medical Corps."
Father Mulcahy: "He was drafted."

Trapper John: "Look, mother, I want to go to work in one hour. We are the Pros from Dover and we figure to crack this kid's chest and get out to the golf course before it gets dark. So you go find the gas-passer and you have him pre-medicate this patient. Then bring me the latest pictures on him. The ones we saw must be 48 hours old by now. Then call the kitchen and have them rustle us up some lunch...Ham and eggs will be all right...Steak would be even better. And then give me at least ONE nurse who knows how to work in close without getting her tits in my way."

Duke Forrest: "Colonel, fair's fair... if I punch Hawkeye and nail Hot-Lips, can I go home too?"

Robert Altman's masterpiece, MASH (70) written by Ring Lardner Jr. based on Richard Hooker's novel, starring: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall, Roger Bowen, Rene Auberjonois, Gary Burghoff, Fred Williamson, Michael Murphy, John Schuck, G. Wood, Bud Cort and the voice talents of of David Arkin. 13 directors turned down the job of director before Robert Altman accepted MASH. Altman's son Mike (when he was 14 years old) wrote the lyrics to the immortal theme song, "Suicide Is Painless." Ring Larder Jr. (who had been blacklisted in the Fifties) was the only person associated with the film to win an Oscar, Best Screenplay - based on material from another medium. He later disowned the movie for not containing hardly any of the words he wrote (thanks to Altman's brilliant improvisational film-making style).

Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland kept calling each other "Shirley" on the set. Gould did it in one shot, cracking Sutherland up, and Altman decided to keep it in the film. Altman never worked with Sutherland again because the actor and his co-star Gould went to the producers of the movie and tried to get Altman fired (reportedly because he was filming too much of the secondary characters). Gould later confessed his sin to Altman (leading to one of the best director/star teams of the seventies: MASH 70, The Long Goodbye 73, California Split 74) while Sutherland never apologized or spoke of the matter again. MASH is also the first major studio release to use the word "fuck" in its dialogue and the beer the surgeons are drinking throughout the movie is Pabst Blue Ribbon.

I chose this film (one of my all-time favorites) as my "Halloween" tribute post - because I went to kindergarten dressed as Father John Patrick 'Dago Red' Mulcahy one year for Halloween. True Story.

Painless: "Your fuckin' head is coming right off, pal."

Who's Your Favorite Alan Rickman Villain?

is it:
Sheriff of Nottingham from Kevin Reynold's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (91)

Sheriff of Nottingham: "Wait a minute. Robin Hood steals money from my pocket, forcing me to hurt the public, and they love him for it?...That's it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, and call off Christmas!"

Sheriff of Nottingham: "Hired thugs... Ahh brilliant."

Guy of Gisborne: "Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?"
Sheriff of Nottingham: "Because it's DULL, you twit, it'll hurt more."

Sheriff of Nottingham: [to a wench] "You. My room. 10:30 tonight." [to another wench] "You. 10:45... And bring a friend."

or:
Hans Gruber from John McTiernans's Die Hard (88)

Hans Gruber: "Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho."

Hans Gruber: "I wanted this to be professional. Efficient, adroit, cooperative, not a lot to ask. Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way, so he won't be joining us for the rest of his life."

Hans Gruber: "I am going to count to three, there will not be a four. Give me the code."

Hans Gruber: "This time John Wayne does not walk off into the sunset with Grace Kelly."
John McClane: "That was Gary Cooper, asshole."

In a career full of intense and memorable performances, Rickman will still always be known as a baddie. He's even one of the best there ever was: certainly the best British Baddie ever. In addition to the two films listed above, the following Rickman performances should not be missed (even if he wears a "white hat" in most of them): Truly Madly Deeply (91), Close My Eyes (91), Mesmer (94), An Awfully Big Adventure (95), Sense and Sensibility (95), Michael Collins (96), Galaxy Quest (99), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (01), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (02), Love Actually (03), Something the Lord Made (04), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (04) and filming now, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (05).
Note: you will not find Kevin Smith's Dogma (99) in this list because I feel it was a waste of everyone's talent who appeared in it (not because of the material - but because it was a shit pretentious movie)

personal favorite Rickman film: Anthony Minghella's Truly Madly Deeply with Juliet Stevenson as Nina, a woman who must first adjust to the death of her boyfriend, Jaime (Rickman) and then to his return as a ghost.
Nina: "My Feet will want to march to where you are sleeping, but I shall go on living."

Monster Nudie Time!

Criswell: "Can your heart stand the shocking facts of the true story of Edward D. Wood Jr.?" from Tim Burton's masterpiece, Ed Wood (94)

I can't paraphrase this (it's too good), so here it is (from newyorker.com): "Seven years before (Ed Wood) died, he did shoot one last picture, a pornographic film called “Necromania: A Tale of Weird Love!” Wood wrote, produced, and directed it (in three days, dressed in a pink baby-doll outfit) under the name Don Miller. The budget was five thousand dollars. It was one of the first skin flicks to have what, technically, could be called a plot, and for Ed Wood fanatics—among whom are many Woodites, as adherents of the Church of the Heavenly Wood call themselves (no joke)—it was for years the ultimate buried treasure, the Woodite equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Wood made two versions, one soft-core (the sex is simulated) and the other hard-core (the sex is real), both of which went missing after an extremely brief run at the Hudson Theatre, on West Forty-fourth Street, in 1971. The soft-core version turned up at a yard sale in California in 1992 and eventually achieved limited distribution, thanks to the exertions of some West Coast cult-video collectors. But the longer, dirtier cut was the grail.

"In 2001, after a seventeen-year quest, Rudolph Grey, the author of the Ed Wood biography “Nightmare of Ecstasy” (which became the basis for the Tim Burton film “Ed Wood”), found the triple-X “Necromania” in a warehouse in Los Angeles. He and a B-movie distributor named Alexander Kogan bought the negatives for “two and a half nickels,” as Kogan put it...A year ago, Kogan came across a profile in the Times of the blog impresario Nick Denton, who had just launched a pornography Web site called Fleshbot...“I bought (the film) as a joke,” Kogan said last week, in an effort to make it clear that he was not, repeat not, a pornographer. Denton, however, was interested in it as a business proposition, in his quest to become a pornographer, if a somewhat ironic one, and next week he is releasing it as Fleshbot Films’ first title.

"And so, at long last, Woodites, if not the world, have an opportunity to see the story of Danny and Shirley, a young couple who, to spruce up their flagging sex life, visit a strange house that seems to be both a sex clinic and a funeral parlor. They seek out a therapist named Madame Heles, who ministers to her patients inside a coffin. There are numerous erotic pairings (including one between a woman and a bronze skull), some delightfully incongruous music (surf songs and cha-cha-cha), and, of course, choice dialogue (Danny, gesturing to a pair of red pajama bottoms: "For such a fancy setting, you think these are conventional enough?" Tanya: "The word ‘conventional’ has many connotations, never more so than in this establishment")."

Ed Wood died in 1978 of heart failure. It's a shame he missed his own renaissance. Of course, some critics and film scholars are already calling Necromania a "masterpiece." There is another unfinished Wood porno-flick being released by Fleshbot as well, called, The Only House in Town. Rudy Frey, a journalist who has written about Wood (and these unreleased treasures years ago) in the periodical, Cult Movies, had this to say in regards to a sequence in Necromania, in which Danny looks behind a curtain and glimpses what some might call a blurry, kaleidoscopic orgy but which Grey calls "the sex dimension of lost souls who can never be satisfied": "Taking into account the context and the tone of the rest of the movie, it may be the most remarkable sequence in the history of film." O-kay. I love Wood as much as the next guy, but let's not go nuts.

Criswell: "Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember, my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future." - Plan 9 from Outer Space (59)

Edward D. Wood, Jr.: "Cut! That was perfect!"

mirror, mirror

from imdb: "MirrorMask centers on Helena, a 15 year old girl in a family of circus entertainers, who often wishes she could run off and join real life. After a fight with her parents about her future plans, her mother falls quite ill and Helena is convinced that it is all her fault. On the eve of her mother's major surgery, she dreams that she is in a strange world with two opposing queens, bizarre creatures, and masked inhabitants. All is not well in this new world - the white queen has fallen ill and can only be restored by the MirrorMask, and it's up to Helena to find it. But as her adventures continue, she begins to wonder whether she's in a dream, or something far more sinister."

Neil Gaiman, award-winning cult author and creator of the popular Sandman graphic novels, is the brainchild of MirrorMask. It is based on his original story and he wrote the screenplay. He was born in England but now lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He's a strange guy. Most talented people are. The television mini-series, Neverwhere (96), that he created, never really took off here in the states. His fiction novel, American Gods, and a children's book that followed, Coraline (which is being adapted into a film as we speak) were International bestsellers.

A new children's picture book, The Wolves in the Walls, was illustrated by his longtime collaborator (and director of MirrorMask) Dave McKean. Tori Amos even sings about Gaiman on her albums: 'Little Earthquakes', 'Under the Pink', 'Boys for Pele' and 'Scarlet's Walk.' I think that is the true testament to his enduring cult status - that he has managed to collect a devoted group of fans and admirers around his work at all times, who are almost all willing to defend him at any turn. Look around you, you may not even know that one of your friends or co-workers is secretly a Gaiman follower.

from neilgaiman.com: "THE SANDMAN is a rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy, in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven. This extremely popular series was bound into ten collections. Featuring Dream of the Endless, also known as Morpheus, Onieros and many other names, we explore a magical world filled with stories both horrific and beautiful. What do you need to know to enjoy the series? Only that there are seven brothers and sisters that have been since the beginning of time, the Endless. They are Destiny, Death, Dream, Desire, Despair, Delirium who was once Delight, and Destruction, the one who turned his back on his duties. Their names describe their function and the realms that they are in charge of. Several years ago, a coven of wizards attempted to end death by taking Death captive, but captured Dream instead. When he finally escapes he must face the changes that have gone on in his realm, and the changes in himself." There's alot more info on this incredible world at neilgaiman.com. I suggest you read up.

Working with the Jim Henson company and Columbia Tristar, MirrorMask will more than likely become strictly another cult item for Gaiman and McKean (considering there's not one big name star amongst the cast) - but that's the great thing about finding these types of books and films on your own: you really do get the impression, once you enter into their world, that you are discovering something strange and new. Trust me, nobody writes words and stories like Gaiman, and nobody illustrates anything like McKean. Could there even be a Sandman movie in the works? After Coraline is completed, another Gaiman story is set to be adapted to film: Books of Magic, set for release in 2006. After that, who knows what Dreams may come...

Telly the Greek

From the futon critic: "Chazz Palmenteri and Roselyn Sanchez have joined the cast of the USA Network Original movie "Kojak," which stars Ving Rhames ("Pulp Fiction," "Mission Impossible") in the title role. Production began on July 21st in Toronto. The movie will premiere on USA Network in the first quarter 2005. "Kojak" is the first in a possible series of movies based on the hit police drama, which originally starred Telly Savalas as the bald, street-wise police detective with a fondness for lollypops, Lieutenant Theo Kojak, and aired on CBS from 1973 to 1978. The show was celebrated by police departments around the country for what was then considered a realistic portrayal of police work. In the film, Kojak hunts down a serial killer who continues to puzzle New York City detectives by targeting prostitutes with young children. After visiting a crime scene where he meets a victim's children left without their mother – let alone a legal guardian – he is overcome with anger and compassion, and vows to personally avenge the killings."

WHAT-THE-FUCK-?

The movie is being executive produced by Rhames and produced by Playa Inc.

Exactly.

Okay, does anybody remember just how fucking cool Telly Savalas was as Kojak? From 1973 to 1978 (not counting the later TV movies) every Sunday night on CBS, that show defined a whole era of hipness. I don't so much as have a problem with Ving Rhames playing the character, as I do with the fact that it's going to air on the USA televsion network. Okay, wait a minute, on second thought, I do have a problem with Ving Rhames playing Kojak. It's Savalas's role. The actor died in 1994 and he will always be remembered for playing this character. Have they really run out of all new ideas? Has it really been reduced to this? I'll tell you why Ving Rhames can't play Savalas: because the cool thing about Kojak was, he was this greek cop who was a real badass. He walked and talked the streets, and that's why it worked. You wouldn't expect a guy who looked like him to kick ass and take names the way he did. Ving Rhames - you take one look at and turn the other way. He's a goddamn walking riot squad. Oh, that's it - I'm done. You get the point.

"Ciao, baby."

Mr. Fielding Builds His Dream House

Walter: "You know what this is? This is the short line at Motor Vehicles."
Anna: "What?"
Walter: "Sure! You know... you go to Motor Vehicles to get your license renewed, and you get on this line that reaches to Spain, and right next to it is this little short line with only two guys in it, but you figure something must be "wrong" with that line - otherwise everyone else would be in it - so you waste three hours!"
Anna: "I got in the short line once. It was for farm vehicles."

Cheap Girl # 1: "Walter! We've decided to change the name of our group!"
Walter: "Change the name? Why? You have a name, "The Cheap Girls", I love it. I think it says it all."
Cheap Girl # 1: "We want to call ourselves "Meryl Streep."
Walter: No, no, you can't call yourselves Meryl Streep."
Cheap Girl # 1: "Maybe she'll be flattered."
Walter: "No, in fact, considering your act, I can assure you a gigantic law suit."

Walter: "Oh I'm so glad you're here...I started hallucinating a while ago the Care Bears were here."

Richard Benjamin's, The Money Pit (86) starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long as Walter and Anna Fielding. "The Cheap Girls" (aka: "Meryl Streep") are available wherever fine records are sold.

Incidentally, there is a bit of controversy surrounding the "Meryl Streep" line in The Money Pit. When "Cheap Girl #1" tells Walter they want to change the name of their band to "Meryl Streep," it does not appear as if he is actually saying the words: "Meryl Streep." When Walter repeats it just a few lines later he is clearly not mouthing the words "Meryl Streep" either. No one has ever discovered what the original line was, but it is clear that the name of the Oscar-winning actress was indeed dubbed in later. I personally think they were both saying: "Abe Vigoda," but I'm not a professional lip-reader or anything...

blue moon

Marshall: "They just pay me to drive the limo, sir. I'm not here to tell you who you are."
Joe Banks: "I didn't ask you to tell me who I am."
Marshall: "You were hinting around about clothes. That happens to be a very important topic to me, sir. Clothes, Mr..."
Joe Banks: "Banks."
Marshall: "Banks. Clothes make the man. I believe that. You say to me you want to go shopping, you want to buy clothes, but you don't know what kind. You leave that hanging in the air, like I'm going to fill in the blank, that to me is like asking me who you are, and I don't know who you are, I don't want to know. It's taken me my whole life to find out who I am, and I'm tired now, you hear what I'm saying?"

Marshall: "What kinda clothes do you got now?"
Joe Banks: "Well, I got the kinda clothes I'm wearing."
Marshall: "So you got no clothes."

[Joe and Marshall are both wearing Armani tuxedos]
Joe Banks: "Feel like I'm getting married."
Marshall: "I feel like I'm giving you away."

Tom Hanks and Ossie Davis in Joe Versus the Volcano (90) written and directed by John Patrick Shanley

right as rain

Mike Leigh's new film is called Vera Drake, and it stars Imelda Staunton as an abortionist who finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s England - a conflict which leads to tragedy for her family. While the practice itself was illegal at the time, Vera sees herself as simply helping women in need, and always does so with a smile and kind words of encouragement. When the authorities finally find her out, Vera's world and family life rapidly unravel.

A veteran British actress of stage, televison and screen, Staunton's first major role was in the Dennis Potter masterpiece, The Singing Detective (86). She has since gone on to offer support in several major English or International co-productions: Much Ado About Nothing (93), Citizen X (TV, 95), Sense and Sensibility (95), Shakespeare in Love (98), Chicken Run (voice, 00), Crush (01), Bright Young Things (03) and now Vera Drake. I remember her in the first Kenneth Branagh film I ever saw, Peter's Friends (92). And now she may have just given the performance of her lifetime for Mike Leigh.

Leigh has always been a favorite of mine. His films are often bleak, uncompromising and always lucid. I especially admire: High Hopes (88), Life Is Sweet (90), Naked (93), Secrets & Lies (96), Career Girls (97), Topsy-Turvy (99) and All or Nothing (02). Actor David Thewlis won the Best Actor award at the Cannes film festival for his career-defining performance in Naked (a film which has yet to surface on DVD in this country) and the film remains, in my humble opinion, Leigh's definitive work. He is a director who always has something to say about an issue, or a cause. His films are not merely exercises in style or made for entertainment (although Topsy Turvy - the most un-Leigh like film of his career excels at both) and you can always prepare yourself to be moved when seeing one of his bold and highly personal statements (political or social). Unlike any other director I can think of, his heroes are almost always the working poor, and to quote an unknown poet: "somebody has to do it."

Here's a comment from Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat in their review of Vera Drake: "When was the last time you saw a movie that focused on the compassion and genuine goodness of a person who doesn't live for herself but always puts others first? Look no further." David Edelstein wrote: "The title character (Imelda Staunton) is presented as a hunched and shambling drudge—and also a radiant martyr—and also the very model of English working-class repression." Okay, is the film going to be bleak? Yes. Is it going to be depressing? More than likely - it's a Mike Leigh film for Christ's sake! If you bring yourself to see it, than you know why you are there: to experience a part of life that no one else really talks about, and to be moved in a way that most other pictures cannot begin to crack the surface. If you have time to bash a Leigh film for being a "downer," then you have no business talking about it.

I've heard Staunton's portrayl of Vera as being both stunning and creepy, at the same time. She displays a robotic cheerfulness throughout the film, and it must be distrubing to some viewers to note that her secret trade is abortion. She does it becuase she feels she is helping people - and for no other reason. The MPAA chose to give it an "R" rating for content - and by "content" I mean "abortion." That's right, I'll type it again: ABORTION. There is no language, no violence or minimal sexuality even referenced in the film. Not that that bothers Leigh very much. I don't think he gives a shit what the MPAA thinks. God bless him. Abortion has been illegal since 1861 in England (even though the wealthy and well-connected can "go away somewhere" if need be) You can bet Leigh's intent with making this film is far more reaching than to tell a good story.

I do not believe that Vera Drake is based on any one person in real life. I have not found anything to suggest it. What has been suggested is that Imelda Staunton's portrayal of her is unforgettable, and deserves mention come Oscar time. She has been a bit-player up until now, and this is her moment of glory. If there's any justice in the world (which I'm still convinced there is, and not just because I'm a 'dreamer') she will at the very least recieve an Academy Award nomination. It's the least they owe this incredible actress giving the performance of her life. As Vera tells her despondent women, "You'll soon be right as rain."

integrity

Is it Bening's year? Is it even just slightly possible that she could finally win an Oscar for Best Actress, for her new film: Being Julia, directed by István Szabó and based on the book by W. Somerset Maugham. I think it's more than "slightly" possible. I think that it could just be her year indeed. Szabo is one of my favorite directors of all-time. His trilogy of German films with actor (and genius) Klaus Maria Brandauer are some of the most incredible films I have ever seen. But first, here's the plot of Being Julia (from imdb):

"Tale of amorous folly and revenge set in the world of the London stage in the late 1930's. Reigning diva Julia Lambert's success and fame grow suddenly wearisome. She falls head over heels for a young American, Tom, and begins a passionate May - December affair. When she realizes that Tom is just a young social climber whose real passion is ambitious young starlet Avice Crichton, Julia begins to plot a delightful revenge."

The film stars: Jeremy Irons, Bruce Greenwood, Miriam Margolyes, Juliet Stevenson, Shaun Evans, Maury Chaykin, Rosemary Harris, Rita Tushingham and Michael Gambon to name but a few. Film reviewer, James Berardinelli, while criticizing the "sluggish" pace of the film (a Szabo trademark) had this to say about Bening: "She plays the film like a farce, but finds the real, three-dimensional character in Julia. And, when she takes the stage to one-up everyone who has screwed her, Bening shines like a beacon on a moonless night, eclipsing everyone else. This is what acting is all about." Great. Now give her her stinkin' statue already.

István Szabó, born in Budapest, Hungary in 1938, has been directing films since the late fifties. Here are just some of his highlights: A Film About Love (70), 25 Fireman's Street (73), Meeting Venus (91), Sunshine (99), Taking Sides (01) and now Julia. His trilogy with Brandauer about historical German figures facing personal crises of faith and conscience includes: Mephisto (81), Colonel Redl (85) and Hanussen (88). When I say that each of these three films are "masterpieces," I'm under-stating it. Mephisto, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign film that year, is not only one of my top 5 favorite films of all-time, but one of the best movies ever made. See it. Anchor Bay did excellent DVD editions of Mephisto and Colonel Redl. The staggeringly brilliant Hanussen has yet to appear on DVD in region 1. Hanussen is based on an actual person who, during the nazi party's rise to power, using hypnotism and clairvoyance, predicted their rise and fall. His interesting story was also semi-told in the interestingly-bad Werner Herzog film, Invincible (01) with Tim Roth in the role.

Hendrik Hoefgen: "Am I not the most dreadful villain you have seen?"
Klaus Maria Brandauer in Mephisto

Brandauer is still active in film (mostly French, Russian, and other European productions) and television. He recently played Vladimir Lenin in a film (in addition to Julius Ceasar and Rembrandt) and is working on a new project called The Fourth Generation (05). I really like him as tyrannical (but charming) director Otto Preminger in the cable film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (99) with Halle Berry. And in his Oscar nominated role in Best Picture winner, Out of Africa (85). He's an extraordinarily gifted actor and one of a handful of international artists who have never gotten their dues from the American film establishment.

So, will Szabo direct Bening into Oscar history? One things, for sure: it's a safe bet she will at the very least get another nomination (this will be her 3rd after American Beauty, 99, for Best Actress and The Grifters, 90, for Supporting Actress) although she should have been nominated for Bugsy (91) and The American President 95). As long as Julia Roberts doesn't win another one, I don't care. Favorite piece of Bening trivia: "At the Telluride Film Festival in September 2004, film critic Roger Ebert finally broke down and asked if she was the lady seen in the Columbia Pictures logo. Bening admitted "Oh sure, The artists told me it was me. But just the face. Not the body". The artist told her that he chose her face because he felt that she had the look of stern nobility that was perfect to represent artistic integrity."

"Artistic integrity." I like that.

Hendrik Hoefgen: "What do they want from me now? After all, I am just an actor." - Mephisto

Sheldon: "There's no reason to shoot at me, I'm a dentist."

Vince Ricardo: "I was in the jungle - the bush we called it - for approximately nine months..."
Sheldon: "Nine months! That must have really been something!"
Vince Ricardo: "It was. I saw things... They have tsetse flies down there the size of eagles."

Vince Ricardo: "Are you interested in joining? The benefits are terrific. The trick is not to get killed. That's really the key to the benefit program."

Vince Ricardo: "Serpentine, Shel! Serpentine!"

Vince Ricardo: "Sometimes I'm so smart I scare myself."

Peter Falk (Vince Ricardo) and Alan Arkin (Sheldon Kornpett, D.D.S.) in Arthur Hiller's classic The In-Laws (79).

Rest for the Wicked

A motorcyclist is bonded with a demon that periodically takes possession in order to wreak vengeance on the guilty. (First Appearance: MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #5, 1972)

From starpages.net: "Lions Gate and Marvel are set to begin filming "Ghost Rider" early next year in Australia with a release date sometime in summer 2006, Hovorka added. He said the film is expected to star Nicolas Cage and be directed by Mark Steven Johnson, who also directed "Daredevil," and will be a moderately budgeted production."

What does that mean: "moderately budgeted production"? I'll tell you what it means, it means they got a cut-rate director who will no doubt deliver a lackluster production, a production that all of it's money went to securing a big-name Hollywood star. I've been reading about Nic Cage wanting to do this project for years. He has said, "I always thought it was interesting: the concept of a character who's in the dilemma of making a deal with a negative force and then trying to do something positive with it." It looks as if he's finally got his wish. I know that he will be tremendous in this role but why not bargain for someone other than Johnson? I am not the only one who thought Daredevil was terrible. I hope he proves me wrong. But in the end, does anyone really care if Ghost Rider isn't done right? I know there are fans of the material out there, but to everyone else, this will more than likely just seem like another dark comic-book-to-film concoction with yet another A-list celebrity attached (regardless of how good or bad it really is). You can thank Marvel for that, for flooding the market (too fast-too soon) with their goods over the past couple years. Why the big rush?

There have been many names associated with the Ghost Rider film, including original screenwriter and Blade:Trinity director, David Goyer (Dark City, 98, Blade, 98, Blade II, 02, Blade: Trinity, 04 and Batman Begins screenwriter, whose original draft was dismissed as being "too violent"). At one point, the film was going to be re-tooled as a PG action film. "It's kind of an oxymoron to me. The guy's got a flaming skull. I guess you can do happy meals with that," Goyer remarked. Last I heard, it was going to be PG-13. Maybe Cage (who approved the changes to Goyer's script) and the studio took some of Goyer's comments to heart. Comics2film recently reported: "Adelaide actor Clayton Watson is in the running to star alongside Nicolas Cage and Jon Voight in a $40 million adaption of the comic classic 'Ghost Rider'. Filming on the big- screen version of the Marvel comic is expected to start at Melbourne's Docklands studio in January." If word like this keeps popping up - it just might actually get made - finally. Although Voight is apparently now out as an actor on the project (he was signed-on back when the project was still at the original studio, Dimension Films - now the film is at Sony) but in as a producer, one thing is for sure, Cage will still be in the lead. He has already finished shooting The Weather Man for Gore Verbinski and still has Lord of War for Andrew Niccol to go before tackling Ghost Rider.

So just what is Ghost Rider about? I'm glad you asked: Based on the Marvel Comic Book Series, a motorcyclist makes a deal with the devil in order to save his mentor from cancer. What he doesn't realize is that he gets more than he bargained for. By day, he's Johnny Blaze, by night, he is the Ghost Rider- a humanoid with a flaming skull as a head and makes those who are guilty pay the price.

I have found that there are plenty of Cage-detractors out there. Ya know what - I don't care. I think he's one of the most versatile and gifted actors of our generation. See Vampire's Kiss (86), or Peggy Sue Got Married (89), or the staggeringly under-rated Matchstick Men (03) - all amazing performances. What other mainstream actor can you name that can pull off a complete introverted nebbish like Charlie Kaufman (and his suave twin brother Donald) in Adaptation (02) and then turn right around and play an action-oriented role in the upcoming National Treasure (04)? Cage has done this type of role flip-flopping his entire career. It is virtually impossible to apply the term "against type" to him. He simply is every single type. He's played them all - and now he's about to play with fire...

"To be or not to - well you know..."

blue monday

Actor Denis Lavant as ex-Foreign Legion officer Galoup, in Claire Denis' Beau Travail (99).

I was ready to let A Very Long Engagement, the new film by Amelie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet slip right by without mention, until: I read that Denis Lavant had a role in it. Just who is Denis Lavant? That's a very good question. But first, this Audrey Tautou film is sure to pick up alot of Oscar Buzz come nomination time, and the visionary (if a bit pretentious - but hey, it's okay - he's French) director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet will more than likely either win for Foreign Film, and or be nominated himself for Best Director (something the Academy likes to do from time to time - throw a bone to the International crowd). I am not a big fan of Jeunet as a solo director. Frankly, I do not get the hype surrounding Amelie. It was just okay. Ya know? Very sweet film, but just okay. But I do think that some of his past work with director/collaborator Marc Caro: Delicatessen (91) and The City of Lost Children (95) are masterpieces.

In any case, Jeunet may just de-throne Pedro Almodovar as the new Hollywood Foreign "It Boy" this year with a coveted Best Director nomination. But then again, Almodovar may have a few tricks up his sleeve yet, with his new film (yet another "masterpiece" I'm sure they will say - boy, I would hate to be Almodovar when he actually makes one - a true "masterpiece" that is, and everybody misses it) called Bad Education (04) with rapidily rising-star, Gael García Bernal. We shall see. In the meantime, here's the plot of A Very Long Engagement (Jeunet's film): The story of a a young woman, Mathilde's relentless search for her fiancée, who has disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War One. Reminds me a little bit (actually quite alot) of the plot to another mesmerizing (and forgotten) French film by master director Bertrand Tavernier called, Life and Nothing But (89) with the incomparable Philippe Noiret (he was the old guy in Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso released that same year).

Kino on Video has just released Life and Nothing But on DVD. Buy it. Right now. It's one of those movies you'll see and no doubt foget about afterwards, until a few days/weeks/months later when your in the grocery store, reaching for that box of cereal or package of toilet paper and then BAM! It hits you over the head! Incredible performances. But back to Jeunet - I will hold off judgement until I see his flakey and pretentious new film, wait, did I just judge it? Who knows - it could just turn out to be the film of the year (even if the annoyingly cute Tautou is in it) and the stills from it do look amazing. Okay, so that brings be back to Denis Lavant. I will see A Very Long Engagement just for him. He's an enormously gifted actor and performer who has been in the French film industry since the early eighties. You may not have ever seen him before, unless you've seen any one of these incredible French movies: Entre Nous (83), Boy Meets Girl (his first big role, 84), Mauvais sang (aka: Bad Blood, 86), The Lovers on the Bridge (for which he deserved an Oscar nomination, 99), Beau travail (riveting as always, 99), Tuvalu (99) and now Engagement (in which he will only be relegated to a small role sadly enough).

To really experience his abilities, you must watch The Lovers on the Bridge. Not only is he, and the rest of the cast amazing (including Juliette Binoche, also in Mauvias sang) but the film itself is deeply moving. It's by Lavant's long-time director Leos Carax (Boy Meets Girl and Mauvais sang) Miramax released it on DVD last year. Pick it up. You wont regret it.

Priceless Lavant moment on film: In the middle of the vastly under-rated Mauvais sang, Lavant's character, overcome with emotion, breaks out of a room onto a city street and dances expressively to David Bowie's Modern Love. It's one of those moments you'll just sit there in silence with your mouth open the first time you see it. Then, you'll rewind it and watch it again about a hundred times. Keep in mind: the film is not a musical (nor does it feature any other dance numbers). Lavant simply flips, rolls and modern-dances down the street as almost half the song plays out. Unforgettable.

secret agent man

Don West: "What, did he freebase his face off?"

Where is this film on DVD: ivans xtc. (00)? An update of Leo Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich," set in contemporary Hollywood. Ivan Beckman (Danny Huston, son of John), Hollywood's most sought after talent agent, the darling and crown prince of La-La Land is dead. How and why did it happen? Was it drugs, murder or excess, or perhaps something altogether more mundane? We begin with an ending and then catapult back a number of days to the apex of Ivan's brilliant career as he bags international megastar Don West (Peter Weller) onto his company's books, and then charts the highs, lows (and they are so very low) and extreme excesses of his final days. Written and directed by Bernard Rose (Candyman, 92, Immortal Beloved, 94).

Here's a review from Sight and Sound: "Made outside the studio system with minimalist production methods (very versatile high-definition video cameras), the film is a showcase for the effects that can be achieved digitally, with a distinctive look that is strikingly different from celluloid but still effective in the creation of mood...based on Hollywood agent Jay Moloney, whose comet-like career ended while ivansxtc. was in post-production in a suicide that makes the parallel all the more clear...Danny Huston, best known as a director (Mr. North), is terrific in the lead role. Poised and charming and self-regarding, Ivan is a snakelike manipulator of the clinching deal, who would doubtless have orchestrated the chaos we see in the first reel if he had lived, but also a fragile, sensitive man on the edge."

Tolstoy narrates, expanding his metaphor: "It was at that very moment Ivan Ilyich fell through and caught sight of the light..."
Now, bring it on...

wine and dine

Alexander Payne's new film is called Sideways. It's about: Miles Faymond (Giamatti), a failed writer who teaches junior high school english who takes his best friend, former hot actor Jack (Haden Church) on a week-long drive up to 'wine country' in California. There they explore the nature of their failures and question their relationships. Jack, about to get married, has an affair and wonders whether he should call it off. Miles, recently divorced, questions whether or not he made the right choice. Sounds like the small intimate films that used to win Oscars back in the day: Ordinary People (80), Annie Hall (77), Kramer vs. Karmer (79), Terms of Endearment (83) etc.

Paul Giamatti's in it so I know that I have to see it. Thomas Haden Church could actually have a film career after this one. I like Payne. His films have a unique look and he's one of those contemporary film-makers who's not an idiot (Brett Ratner, Michael Bay) or a snob (Brett Ratner, Michael Bay). Citizen Ruth (96), Election (99) and especially About Schmidt (02) all deal with people having some type of identity crisis. Sideways looks to be in good company. We shall see what lies ahead for Payne, he may just prove to be this years David, going up against Goliath (Scorsese) come Oscar time for Best Director. Could this little film actually win the Oscar for Best Picture?

Some critics are saying it's possible. I happen to think that Top Honors this year will go to Scorsese's The Aviator, just because it's about time (and Hollywood loves an old-fashioned epic about the movies). But then there's that darn Oliver Stone creeping around the corner with his small, intimate little "feel-good" movie, Alexander - no, wait...that didn't come out right...Stone, Scorsese, Payne, the prerequisite foriegn director that most people have probably never heard of before (in this case: Alejandro Amenábar for The Sea Inside) and more than likely Mike Nichols, for the already critically lauded, Closer, are all shoe-ins for Best Director nominees. It's going to be a tough year. So far, my bet's still on Goliath, but only time will tell.

tour-de-force

Whether he plays a gay poet, a brutish unemployed dock-worker or a soul-weary cop, Javier Bardem is still the man. If you do not know who he is, the best way to describe him is: the Spanish Brando. Or better yet, the Spanish De Niro. He learns the dialect of the characters he plays (and speaks them like a native), he gains and sheds pounds to fit a role and he's been steadily building a body of work that entertains as much as it enlightens. He is the first Spanish actor ever to be nominated for an Academy Award, and lightening is about to strike twice.

Okay, I know a while back I rather enthusiastically declared that Jaime Foxx would win this year's Best Actor Academy award for Ray, but a proverbial wrench has just been thrown into that wheel. That wrench's name is Javier Bardem. I must've over-looked his new film, The Sea Inside before all the hype about Ray came out. I really want Foxx to win, but here's the deal: Bardem actually deserves it. Not just for this new film (which may be his best performance yet), but for a whole slew of star-making (yet somehow over-looked) performances. I've been hip to Bardem now for several years. Everytime something comes out with his name on it - I immediately pick it up. Here are just a few titles to help you get started: Before Night Falls (Bardem's first Oscar nominated performance, 00), The Dancer Upstairs (directed by John Malkovich, 02), Mondays in the Sun (for which he should have been nominated, 02) and Collateral (04).

Here's the plot of his new film, The Sea Inside, from Variety: Almost unbearably poignant tour de force about a quadriplegic's desire to die with dignity, Alejandro Amenabar's fourth feature is a startling departure from the stylish genre fare of his first three movies. Buoyed by a diamond-plated script, fine production values and a majestic neck-up performance by Javier Bardem, "Sea" is a dramatic triumph...

More from imdb: The real-life story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 30 year campaign in favor of euthanasia and his own right to die.

This is not the first time that Bardem has played someone with a physical handicap. He played a paralyzed cop and eventual wheelchair-bound basketball star in Pedro Almodóvar's over-looked noir-fest Live Flesh (97). Unlike the celebrated Almodóvar, The Sea Inside director, Alejandro Amenábar, is one of the most under-rated directors of all-time. He deserves mention because of his small, yet flawless body of work. Thesis (96) was his first major film. Open Your Eyes (99, which was made into the hideous Vanilla Sky) came next and is his first masterpiece. If you have not seen it, please do. Especially if you've already seen Vanilla Sky (01) - it's virtually a shot-for-shot re-make of Open Your Eyes (except no where near as intense or brilliant as the original). The Others (01) is not as good, but remains intriguing, and in my opinion (thanks to Amenabar) this was the first film that offered evidence of Nicole Kidman actually becomming a "good" actress. He provided the effective score as well. And now, The Sea Inside.

Critics are already hailing it a masterpiece. This film reminds me of a little-seen but riveting Richard Dreyfuss film from 1981 called, Whose Life Is It Anyway? Dreyfuss played a man fighting the system that was keeping his paralyzed body alive. It's a powerful statement. A deeply moving experience. Bardem may just top it. He's already won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for this film and it now looks as if it's time he took home his 'little gold bald man.' He really did deserve it for Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls (he lost to Russell Crow for Gladiator who was really winning it for L.A. Confidential, 97, and The Insider, 99) so perhaps it's fitting that he take home the gold now (by beating Foxx who will no doubt follow-up Ray with something else as good or better in the near future). Either way, I can't wait to see The Sea Inside. If my instincts are right about this stuff (which they are, most of the time) we'll all be chanting "Javier" come February 27th, 2005. Dios Mio.

Up next for Bardem: The Last Face with Sean Penn (who had a bit part in Before Night Falls), Killing Pablo for director Joe Carnahan (the brilliant director of Narc, 02) and Che with Benicio Del Toro as everyone's favorite revolution poster boy. This is the project that mad genius/certified nut-job Terrence Malick (Days of Heaven, 78) dropped out of. It was picked up by Steven Soderbergh who's hit-or-miss at best. Having Bardem and Del Toro in your movie is alot like having John Wayne and Lee Marvin in the same film. With something this big and ambitious, there wont be any time (or tolerance) for his Clooneyesque buffoonery as of late. I can't believe I just invented the word: Clooneyesque...double Dios Mio.

Favorite Bardem moment on film: it happens at the end of The Dancer Upstairs. Bardem's character has just had a revelation, his life will never be the same. He goes to watch his daughter perform at a ballet recital. He stands at the back of the room and watches the young girl dance through a window. As the perfect music plays during this simple, yet very powerful moment, Malkovich chooses to keep the camera on Bardem's face. The range of emotions that he goes through in only a few moments time, with only the look on his face, is beyond description.

God's Chosen

Salieri: "I will speak for you, Father. I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint."

Academy Award winner for Best Actor (84) F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri in Milos Forman's Amadeus. Abraham beat out fellow co-star Tom Hulce (brilliant as Wolfgang Amadues Mozart) for the Oscar. It must have been a tough vote. Here are the other three nominees that year for Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in Starman, Albert Finney in Under the Volcano (directed by John Huston) and Sam Waterston in The Killing Fields. I think it was obvious (despite everyone doing the best work of their careers) that someone from Amadeus was going to take home the prize. It's always possible when two people are nominated in the same category and for the same film, that they cancel each other out (look at Finney and co-star Tom Courtenay in The Dresser, 83). But, had I been a voter that year, I would have picked Amraham hands down. It's a towering performance. One out of a handful of truly blessed film roles. Abraham rose to the occasion and knocked it right out of the park. I must watch this film at least once a year - just for him. And you should too.

Salieri: "From now on we are enemies, You and I. Because You choose for Your instrument a boastful, lustful, smutty, infantile boy and give me only the ability to recognize the incarnation. Because You are unjust, unfair, unkind I will block You, I swear it. I will hinder and harm Your creature on Earth as far as I am able. I will ruin Your incarnation."

Cast member Simon Callow originally portrayed the part of Mozart in the 1979 stage production. Meg Tilly was originally cast as Constanze. Shortly before shooting began she injured her leg playing soccer with some children in the street in Prague (where the film was to be shot) and the part had to be re-cast. Mel Gibson auditioned for the role of Mozart. The name "Amadeus", which is Mozart's middle name, means "Beloved of God". This choice of title refers to Salieri's conviction that Mozart is God's chosen composer. Several real (or at least apocryphal) events from Mozart's life were incorporated into the screenplay, including the interlude between the child Mozart and Marie Antionette, and the Emperor's comment that "Abduction from the Seraglio" had "too many notes".

Salieri: "Displace one note and there would be diminishment, displace one phrase and the structure would fall."

Sets and costumes for the operatic productions were based on sketches of the original costumes and sets used when the operas premiered. The entire film was shot with natural light. In order to get the proper diffusion of light for some scenes, the DPs covered windows from the outside with tracing paper. The performance of Don Giovanni in the movie was filmed on the same stage where the opera first appeared. The concept for Mozart's annoying laugh was taken from references in letters written about him. One described his laugh as "an infectious giddy" while another described it as "like metal scraping glass". Milos Forman and Peter Shaffer spent four months adapting the very stylized play into a workable script. They added characters such as the priest, maid, archbishop, and mother-in-law; Mozart's character was enlarged beyond Salieri's perceptions; and Salieri's monologues were reworked visually.

Prague ( Milos Forman's native city) was ideal as a stand-in for Vienna, as modern television antennas, plastic and asphalt had rarely been introduced under Communist rule. The baroque Tyl Theater, used in the opera sequences, remained largely unaltered since the 1700s. Eleven huge chandeliers - each with 40 to 60 candles - were suspended through the dome windows by scaffolding built on the roof. Only four sets needed to be built: Salieri's hospital room, Mozart's apartment, a staircase, and the vaudeville theater. All other locations were found locally. The music was pre-recorded and played in the background as scenes were filmed. Tom Hulce practiced four hours a day at the piano to appear convincing. Tim Curry auditioned for the role of Mozart (and played Mozart on Broadway). Mark Hamill also played the role of Mozart on Broadway and lobbied heavily for the role in the film. Originally, a very young Kenneth Branagh was cast as Mozart, but Milos Forman changed his mind and decided to go with American actors for the principal roles.

Salieri: "Mediocrities everywhere...I absolve you. I absolve you. I absolve you. I absolve you. I absolve you all."

coffee and cigarettes (in Berlin)

Peter Falk: "To smoke, and have coffee - and if you do it together, it's fantastic."

from Wim Wender's masterpiece, Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire, 87) with: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Peter Falk and others...

Year of the Tiger

Bozz: "Courage is when you're the only guy who knows how shit-scared you really are."
Joel Schumacher has never made a finer movie than Tigerland (00). He helped introduce the world to Colin Farrell. It remians Farrell's best performance to date (although Schumacher & Farrell's follow-up, Phone Booth, 02, comes pretty close). It's hard to watch Tigerland and not be reminded of some of the best war movies of all time (or at least the best basic training/boot camp films). Films like: The Sands of Iwo Jima (49), The D.I. (57), The Dirty Dozen (67), Tribes (70), The Boys in Company C (78), Full Metal Jacket (87) and many others.

Here's the plot (from hollywood.com): In 1971, at an Army training camp in Louisiana, Roland Bozz, a rebellious yet promising young recruit just released from the base stockade, seeks to avoid a trip to Vietnam and attempts to convince all the other draftees in his company to follow his lead in getting themselves ejected from the Army. But nothing Bozz does can save himself or the others, including Paxton, a writer in the making, or the ambitious Miter and pugilistic Wilson, from Tigerland, a tractless wilderness designated by the army for jungle combat simulation and their last stop before the war zone.

The thing I really like about Tigerland is, the whole thing just feels "right." It has a classic feel about it. It's almost as if everyone in it just had nothing to lose. It's true, no one in it was really famous at the time. Of course, everyone knows who Farrell and Cole Hauser (who has a small but unforgettable role here) are now, but a few years ago they were still relatively unknown. This is simply one of those films that fell through the cracks. If you're into military films, I more than highly recommend it - it is required viweing. That's an order.

The paperback book Bozz (Colin Farrell) is reading at the beginning of the film is Dalton Trumbo's famous anti-war novel "Johnny Got His Gun" about a horribly wounded veteran of the First World War. The actors had no trailers, makeup artists, hairstylists, chairs or any of the typical luxuries. Even though this movie clearly establishes early on that it takes place at the real Ft. Polk, Louisiana, USA (including displaying a big, on-screen, entrance sign at the very beginning), all the sources of film data describing this movie state that it takes place at 'fictional' Ft. Lake, Louisiana, USA. The word "fuck" is used 527 times in this 98-minute film.

Bozz: "I got a question, Sergeant. If I'm dead, how come I can ask you a question?"

"Did Pa used to kill folks?"

The Schofield Kid: "I ain't never killed no one before that, Will."
Bill Munny: "Well you sure killed the hell outta that guy."

Bill Munny: "Hell of a thing, killin' a man. Take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have."

The Schofield Kid :"Well I guess he had it comin'."
Bill Munny: "We all got it comin' kid..."

Bill Munny: "What I said the other day, you looking like me, that ain't true. You ain't ugly like me, it's just that we both have got scars."

Little Bill Daggett: "I don't deserve this... to die like this. I was building a house."
Bill Munny: "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."
[aims gun]
Little Bill Daggett: "I'll see you in hell, William Munny."
Bill Munny: "Yeah."
[fires]

"Some years later, Mrs. Ansonia Feathers made the arduous journey to Hodgeman County to visit the last resting place of her only daughter. William Munny has long since disappeared with the children...some said to San Francisco where it was rumored he prospered in dry goods. And there was nothing on the marker to explain to Mrs. Feathers why her only daughter had married a known thief and murderer, a man of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition."

Dedication: "to Sergio and Don"
Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (92)

Crime Boss

If your only memories of the Miami Vice television show (84-89) are glossy neon-drenched sidewalks, gaudy characters and crap star cameos, then you missed the point. The show had an amazing subtext and the violence was not only startling and realistic, but also ahead of it's time. This has always been Michael Mann's "baby," and now it looks as if he's ready to bring it back - this time to the big screen. I will guarantee you this: if the time is right (if the stars align, which they most often do in cases like this) no one will be making fun of Don Johnson's cheesy eighties wardrobe anymore from the original show. Mann will write, direct and produce, and it will no doubt join his league of extraordinary crime epics: Thief (81), Manhunter (86), Crime Story (TV, 86), L.A. Takedown (TV, 89), Heat (95), (even in it's own way) The Insider (99) which is more of the "white collar" side of taking lives, and Collateral (04) with Foxx in his break-through role.


(from empireonline): "Mann has decided to remain in his favourite genre – crime – and dip back into the wellspring of his past. For he is in talks to write, produce and direct a remake of his seminal ‘80s TV show, Miami Vice for Universal Pictures. And he’s already targeted the actors to fill the rather over-sized jackets of Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as Detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs – Colin Farrell and Mann’s new favourite actor, Jamie Foxx."

Colin Farrell is not such a bad actor. I wont go over the stuff you should avoid, but if you haven't seen these excellent Farrell films, go out right now and get caught up: Tigerland (00), Hart's War (02), Minority Report (02), Phone Booth (02), and the under-rated Irish crime/sex/love/comedy Intermission (03). Foxx, as you know, is well on his way to winning an Oscar. If they pass him up this year for Ray, then they will more than likely give it to him next year for something equal or less deserving. As a serious actor, Farrell still has a way to go. I'm not saying he's a "bad actor." On the contrary, I think he could be another McQueen if he just starts choosing the right projects. Vice could be make-or-break for him. If he can pull off the Crockett charm/intensity, then he may even be a little closer than I thought.

Pacino's shining moment was for Mann, in The Insider as "real life" 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman, but no one seemed to notice. It is quite possibly Pacino's finest performance in a film post Dog Day Afternoon (75).

Lowell Bergman: "And Jeffrey Wigand, who's out on a limb, does he go on television and tell the truth? Yes. Is it newsworthy? Yes. Are we gonna air it? Of course not. Why? Because he's not telling the truth? No. Because he is telling the truth. That's why we're not going to air it. And the more truth he tells, the worse it gets!"

Lowell Bergman: "You'd better take a good look, because I'm getting two things: pissed off and curious."

Stray Dog

Max: "You want to get out of here? You talk to me."

George Miller's Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (82) is still the best film in the Aussie anti-hero saga. Even if it's not your favorite one, it's still the classic entry in the trilogy, but is it the last?

Here's some trivia for the Road (from amazon):
In one scene, Max eats a can of "Dinki-Di" dog food. "Dinki-Di" is Australian slang for "genuine, real." (I'll leave you to draw your own conclusion.)

Renamed "The Road Warrior" for North American distribution because at the time, the original Mad Max had only been released there on a limited basis, so calling it Mad Max II would have confused viewers.

The logo on the tank truck is "7 Sisters Oil", reference to a conspiracy theory, popular before OPEC-conspiracy theories took over, that Standard Oil and six other companies controlled the world oil market and bought up and suppressed 200-MPG carburetor and so on to keep oil prices up.

Reasons for Max's silly outfit: Right arm of jacket missing- He had his arm run over by a bike in the first movie and medics would have cut the sleeve off rather than pull it over a damaged limb. Squeaky leg brace- He had his kneecap shot through in the previous movie. Harness with spanners and stuff dangling off it- To do running repairs on the V8. First two fingers of each driving glove missing- To enable easy insertion/ retrieval of shotgun shells from gun.

Because he was relatively unknown in the US, the trailers did not feature Mel Gibson, but instead focused on the chases and action scenes.

Director/Co-Writer George Miller was given the rights to this and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) to get him to step aside as the director of Contact (1997).
The original V8 Interceptor car is now in the 'Cars of the Stars Motor Museum' in England with other famous cars such as the Magnum PI Ferrari and the Knightrider KITT.

After Mad Max (1979) was finished, all of the cars were supposed to be destroyed, including the black interceptor. But someone thought the interceptor was too good to lose, so they saved it from the crusher. This was before the film was even released. When The Road Warrior was in it's planning stage, someone found out the interceptor had somehow survived, so they tracked it down, and bought it back.

The black Interceptor driven by Mel Gibson is a 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe, a car exclusive to Australia. A limited number of these cars were exported by Ford to New Zealand and the United Kingdom, but never to North America. Since only 949 of that particular model Falcon were ever produced, they have become highly sought after by car collectors on six continents; there are approximately 13 of them that were privately brought over to the United States along with several Interceptor clones assembled from "non-GT" Falcon coupes.

The dog used in the film, named simply "Dog", was obtained from a local dog pound and trained to perform in the film. Because the sound of the engines upset him (and in one incident, caused him to relieve himself in the car), he was fitted with special earplugs. After filming was complete, he was adopted by one of the camera operators.

Will Max return?
From Newsweek Entertainment: March 29 (2004) issue - Last week Mel Gibson told Fox News talk-show host Sean Hannity he was interested in filming the story of the Maccabees—the Jewish liberators whose triumph is celebrated at Chanukah. Could Gibson, whose "Passion of the Christ" has been called anti-Semitic, have been serious? Absolutely, says his publicist, Alan Neirob. "I've heard him talk about this project for years." But Gibson won't be doing it this year—for one thing, he's making a fourth "Mad Max" movie (the first since 1985), called "Mad Max: Fury Road." "Isn't it funny," one industry source muses. "A month ago, everybody was saying 'The Passion' would hurt Mel's career, and now all anyone wants to know is what he's doing next."

From AICN (in June 2004): I’ve been hearing for some time that FURY ROAD wasn’t going to happen. Mel Gibson as good as confirmed it at BNAT this year. But this is the first direct quote from Miller I’ve read: "Mad Max isn't happening". Words from his mouth.

There was another rumor that it was back on again, sometime last July, but as of this speculation, it is my understanding that Max is still lost in the wild. At one point, both Heath Ledger and Robert Downey, Jr. were both attached to star in supporting roles. Any way you cut it, Max is still the baddest dude in the wasteland, and Part 2 was his best trip.

Max: "No deals."

midnight movie

Jonathan Mardukas: "Did she hurt you, Jack?"
Jack Walsh: "Yeah, she did."
Jonathan Mardukas: "I'm sorry."
Jack Walsh: "What're you sorry about?"
Jonathan Mardukas: "I'm sorry you're hurt."
Jack Walsh: "I'm not hurt."
Jonathan Mardukas: "You just said you were hurt."
Jack Walsh: "I'm not hurt."
Jonathan Mardukas: "I just asked you if you were hurt and you said 'Yeah, I'm hurt.'"
Jack Walsh: "That's because you made me say that."
Jonathan Mardukas: "Jack, you're a grown man. You're in control of your own words."
Jack Walsh: "You're goddamn right I am. Now here come two words for you: Shut the fuck up."

Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in Martin Brest's under-rated and sublime Midnight Run (88).