In the latest sadness in what's already been fairly miserable week in film, with the deaths of Sally Menke and Arthur Penn, this morning brought the news that the great Tony Curtis passed away overnight. A rep for the actor's daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, confirmed the news to Entertainment Tonight early this morning.
Born Bernard Schwartz in New York in 1925, the child of Hungarian Jewish immigrants, Curtis served in the Navy in the Second World War, before heading to Hollywood and making his name as a contract player for Universal. He appeared in supporting roles in the likes of "Winchester '73," alongside Jimmy Stewart, before taking up leading roles as something of a heartthrob leading man in films like 1953's "Houdini," and Carol Reed's "Trapeze." He went on to show new depths when he reteamed with his co-star in the latter, Burt Lancaster, in Alexander Mackendrick's stone-cold classic "Sweet Smell Of Success," as a publicist who clashes with a powerful gossip columnist.
This kicked off a hugely successful few years for the star, with roles alongside Kirk Douglas in "The Vikings," an Oscar-nominated turn in Stanley Kramer's "The Defiant Ones," Blake Edwards' submarine comedy "Operation Petticoat" and a supporting role in Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus" all following in quick succession. But of course, the role, or indeed roles, that ensure he'll never be forgotten, is his incredible performance in Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot," alongside Jack Lemmon as jazz musicians who witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and have to pose as women to escape, Curtis' character falling in love with Marilyn Monroe along the way. It's easily one of the greatest comedies of all time, and Curtis is extraordinarily funny in it, particularly when he riffs on his "Operation Petticoat" co-star Cary Grant as the wealthy Shell Oil Jr. (you can check it out below). He gave another excellent, albeit very different, performance, as the serial killer Albert DeSalvo in Richard Fleischer's 1968 drama "The Boston Strangler," one that Curtis always picked out as a personal favorite from his career.
He moved into TV in the 1970s, starring for several seasons on "Vega$," and alongside Roger Moore in the cult adventure show "The Persuaders." He was also a keen painter, and, although he continued acting into his ninth decade, dialed it back in favor of his art -- one of his surrealist paintings was displayed in the Met in New York.
He was married six times, including to "Psycho" star Janet Leigh,with whom he fathered actress Jamie Lee Curtis. When asked in an on-stage interview at the BFI in London in 2008 what he'd like on his tombstone, Curtis answered, "Nobody's perfect." We can't think of a better tip of the hat to his greatest performance, and to the man who gave it.
With all the chatter surrounding David Fincher's "The Social Network" opening this Friday, it's been a temporary reprieve from the noise around the other movie he's gearing up to shoot, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo."
Well, expect the buzz to build again as Christopher Plummer as joined the cast in the role of Henrik Vanger, the wealthy industrialist who hires Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to dig into the decades old murder mystery, digging up dark secrets in the process. As you might recall, Max Von Sydow was in talks to take the role last month, but evidently, Plummer landed the part.
Plummer will join Craig, Rooney Mara (who was not injured on set), Robin Wright and Stellan Skarsgaard in the film that is set to begin filming in Sweden this fall. Fincher will be directing from a script by Steve Zaillian ("Schindler's List," "Gangs Of New York") and the film is slated for a December 22, 2011 release.[THR]
Following her short "Non Plus One" co-directed with Tracy Antonopoulos, and starring her cousin Jason Schwartzman and Kirsten Dunst, and her short film for designer Zac Posen to promote his clothing line at Target, Gia Coppola has unveiled another short for another designer.
Commissioned by Orla Kiely to create a spot for her spring/summer 2011, the latest spot by Gia Coppola displays the nostalgic gaze and breezy attitude of her previous efforts. Thought not as memorable as previous spots, it still does what it's supposed to do: highlight the clothes in a fun, unique way. Certainly, its better than the kind the perfume ads by Guy Ritchie and Frank Miller.
You can watch the video below and wonder when she'll join Francis and Sofia in making a feature.
While celebrated in some quarters as some kind of cerebral horror achievement, this writer thinks Pascal Laugier's "Martyrs" was torture porn dressed up in some intellectual mumbo jumbo. Regardless, the film has its fans, and they might be pleased to know Laugier has another film on the horizon.
"The Tall Man" sounds a bit less extreme than "Martyrs" and the story will center on a town where a number of children have gone missing over the years without a trace. Local legend tells the tale of the titular Tall Man who takes them away never to be seen again. One woman takes action when her child is taken and tries to discover who the Tall Man is and what happens to the children.
With that in mind, Jessica Biel has joined the film which is now filming in Canada, in what we guess in the main role. She joins a cast that includes Stephen McHattie ("Watchmen," "Pontypool"), William B. Davis ("X-Files" as the Cigarette Smoking Man), Samantha Ferris ("Supernatural") and Jodelle Ferland ("Tideland," "Case 39"). The project is described confusingly as "an outdoor 'Panic Room'" and a "suspenseful thriller in the vein of M. Night Shyamalan’s earlier films." So take that for whatever its worth. [JoBlo]
Consider our indie film loving hearts now exploding as Greta Gerwig, the mumblecore actress who has crossed over to more mainstream fare like Noah Baumbach's "Greenberg" earlier this year and upcoming Russell Brand comedy "Arthur," has revealed to WWD (via Hollywood Elsewhere) that she is set to star in Whit Stillman's "Damsels In Distress."
Earlier this summer, the project came to light and was announced to be a low-budget affair that would have "no stars and while Gerwig certainly isn't a household name, she's not an entirely unknown element either. That said, at the time of publication of the interview in mid-September, Gerwig said she would be starting work on the film "in two weeks" so would imagine the project is set to begin any day now, if it hasn't already.
This is definitely exciting stuff as it's been twelve long years since Stillman's "Last Days Of Disco," and he's unfortunately seen a handful of projects not quite come together over the past years. In the film, Gerwig says she'll play, "Violet who runs a suicide-prevention center at a liberal arts college. She prevents suicides through the powers of Thirties song-and-dance numbers. So it’s a very dark comedy." So, does this mean musical numbers are in the film? Guess we'll have to wait and see. You can read the full synopsis revealed earlier this year after the jump:
[The picture] centers on a group of college girls who take in a new student and teach her their own misguided ways of helping people. Lily, a new student at Seven Oaks University, winds up filling in with a dynamic and highly individualistic group of girls, addicted to the elegance of the past: Heather, Violet and Rose all volunteer at the campus Suicide Prevention Center, convinced that musical dance, sharp clothes and good hygiene — the Dior perfume "Diorissimo" is their trademark — can all contribute to staving off the inevitable self-destructive impulses that follow hard on the heels of failed college romances. Despite their sophisticated talk and savvy use of perfume, the girls are plagued by Cupid's arrows and must adjust their psyches to the onset of amour.
No word yet on other cast members, but the project appears to be completely under the radar (IMDB doesn't know it exists yet). Needless to say, we're very exited that Stillman is back; he's definitely a director long, long overdue for a new film and we hope his comeback is strong.
At this point, what director isn't interested in Warner Bros. gestating "Superman: Man Of Steel"? From new kids on the block like Matt Reeves to auteurs like Darren Aronofsky, it appears the Christopher Nolan-godfathered film is trying everyone in Hollywood on for size.
Buried in Deadline's exclusive on a new live action Robert Zemeckis project, the site reveals the director "has lately been rumored to be kicking the tires on such live action projects as Superman." The name is a bit of surprise considering Zemeckis has been following his motion capture muse for the last ten years with "Beowulf," "A Christmas Carol" and "The Polar Express" and it's been two decades since his last major live action tentpole film, "Back To The Future III." But he definitely knows his way around effects, and is a respected director, so it's not entirely out of the question (and he's a much better choice than say, Tony Scott).
As for the live-action project, his first since 2000's "Cast Away," Zemeckis is attached to produce and possibly direct a pitch picked up by Warner Bros. called "Timeless" by Mike Thompson. Thompson, who wrote "Dragonfly" and "Love Happens," is best known in Hollywood circles for teaming with Brandon Camp and earning a big day for their script "Steinbeck's Big Day." The film gained heat when Tom Cruise showed interest in the project, and the duo ended up earning millions thanks to play or pay deals when it fell apart. No word yet on the plot details for "Timeless" except that it's a time travel film.
We presume with Zemeckis eyeing other projects that his "Yellow Submarine" remains on the back burner. The director was also looking at the futuristic young adult novel "Dark Falls" earlier this year, and that also remains on his plate as a potential project.
Update:Deadline reports that Universal has paid a whopping $1.5 million against more than $3 million in what is one of the biggest spec script sales of the year. Are you clamoring for another take on the Snow White story?
Screenwriter Evan Daugherty ("Grayskull, the still unproduced "He-Man" film), director Rupert Sanders (once hired to helm the Leonard DiCaprio-associated crime drama, "The Low Dweller") and producer Joe Roth ("Alice In Wonderland") seem to think so, and they're taking their director/writer/producer package around Hollywood looking for a studio to bite according to THR. Evidently Disney themselves are not part of the visual presentation going aroundTinseltown as they have their own project, “Snow and the Seven,” in the works.
The project is called, "Snow White & The Huntsman" and the premise sounds pretty excellent, actually. In this version of the fairy tale, the titular Huntsman is ordered to take Snow White into the woods and kill her. Instead, he lets her go and the two are evidently chained together for part of the movie as they make their escape. Evidently there's no love story either and the Hunter acts like more of a mentor, teaching the teen girl to fight and survive (sounds a bit like Joe Wright's "Hanna").
A visceral deconstruction of the Snow White story that pounds on the Disney version? We hope so (and it makes us less worried about Joe Roth's participation). The project is filled with strong talent too. While not having directed a feature-length film yet, Sanders has been circling several. He's known for directing the live-action "Halo 3: ODST" commercial for the Xbox 360, and as a director he won two Grand Prixes at the Cannes Festival 2008 and was nominated for a DGA in 2006 and 2008. More notably, he was tapped to direct the aforementioned dark ex-con drama "The Low Dweller" in 2009. A top 5 2008 blacklist script that was bought by Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Wayfor co-production with Ridley Scott's Scott Free Productions. He's also been a contender for the recent "Hunger Games" project, and was circling "All You Need Is Kill" before Doug Limanconfirmed his participation on the film.
While Daugherty's "Grayskull" might not earn him points with our readers, his screenplay "Shrapnel," about two mortal enemies squaring off on a hunting trip to the death, did make the 2008 Blacklist as well. Needless to say it sounds like an enticing project, and we're betting it's only a matter of weeks or days until someone is announced as the project's shepherd.
In the latest sadness in what's already been fairly miserable week in film, with the deaths of Sally Menke and Arthur Penn, this morning brought the news that the great Tony Curtis passed away overnight. A rep for the actor's daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, confirmed the news to Entertainment Tonight early this morning.
