RIP John Calley

imens producator(Filmways 50's-60's, First Artists, Orion & Alan Ladd Company), sef de studio din epoci legendare( Warner Bros-1968-1981) si mai putin-(United Artists-1993, Columbia-Sony-1996-2003), prietenul lui Mike Nichols, cu care a produs Closer ultima data (si a adus deal-ul cartilor lui Dan Brown la studio!!!)-a murit ieri in Hollywod. Avea 81 de ani !
Premiul Oscar omagial-Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 2009 !!!
obituary pe deadline.com !

“John was unique. As a studio head he was unfailingly supportive and didn’t try to do the filmmaker’s job. When he believed in someone he trusted and supported him and when very rarely he had a suggestion it was usually a life saver. In fact that’s what he was: a life saver.”

-Mike Nichols-

The Day of the Dolphin (1973)

"-Who are they? They're the guys who are paid by their guys to watch our guys, who are paid to watch them.
-Then wo are we ?
-You are the guys watching the dolphins !"

Incredibil ca am vazut acest film abia azi, 38 de ani de la premiera. Am facut un double bill George C. Scott cu The Hindenburg (1975), pe care l-am revazut acum dupa ce l-am vazut prin 1998 pe vhs ! Ambele filme ale lui Scott, unul din cei mai mari actori de film EVER si unul din eroii mei absoluti de pe ecran, au rulat la cinema in Romania cind eram eu f. mic dar le-am ratat atunci. Am invatat despre George C. (sau G.S. cum i se spunea), din pozele din revista cinema la Patton si acest film, pentru ca de vazut l-am vazut abia in Oliver Twist (rolul Fagin in versiunea 1982 a lui Clive Donner).

Un savant (pa, George C. Scott) invata delfinii sa vorbeasca. Pe o insula pustie, platit de o fundatie misterioasa. Delfinul Alpha (Fa) acum o curteaza pe delfina Beta (Bee), pe care o invata la rindul ei, limbajul oamenilor. What next ?
Ecranizarea extrem de libera a unui roman de Robert Merle (cult pentru Malevil), Un animal doué de la raison (A Sentient Animal, 1967), o satira a razboiului rece, inspirat de descoperirile savantului John Lilly !
Initial a fost proeictul lui Roman Polanski, dar acesta a renunta la el, dupa ucidera sotiei sale, Sharon Tate, in timp ce pregatea filmul.
Scenaristul Buck Henry intr-un interviu din 2010 in Vice:

Q: There’s got to be a lot of pressure adapting a beloved book.
A: Yes, there is. There’s the fear that you’re going to upset the author, whom you admire. With certain things I’ve adapted, I didn’t give a shit about the original author. The Day of the Dolphin, I didn’t care. I thought it was a stupid book. I tried to move it in the direction of a less stupid film. I won’t even comment on whether I, you, or anyone else thought that I was successful. The worst stuff I’ve done, there are people who will say that it’s their favorite film of all time. Even much lower than The Day of the Dolphin. But it’s tricky. You want to make the original author happy.

valori de productie excelente, imaginea lui William A. Frakerin superb scope, scenografia lui Richard Sylbert si muzica lui Georges Delerue, interpretarea ireprosabila: George C. Scott without a blink, even in shorts, Trish Van Devere (sotia lui Scott), Paul Sorvino ("we're watching the watchmen"), young Edward Herrmann, creepy Fritz Waever !

Filmul a avut o receptie rece, si a fost un esec de casa, desi e extrem de inteligent si chiar emotionant, un The Manchurian Candidate/Candidatul Manciurian cu mamifere, Candidatul delfinian/branchian ! Mi-a adus aminte de receptia si emotia noii Planete a a maimutelor, Rise of the Planet of The Apes, in care animalel sunt mai emotionante ca oamenii si tinem cu ele, firesc !
iar George C. Scott cu nasul si expresia sa, si intonatia , cred ca au fost si la baza inspiratiei pentru Danny De Vito si pinguinii care cara in spate bombe din Batman Returns al lui Tim Burton !!!!

3 1.2 din 5 /7 in 10 !
format: 2.35.1-beautiful widescreen!
extras: none :( (exista si un dvd chul, cu interviuri cu Buck Henry, Leslie Charleson si Edward Herrmann si a trivia track)

Alice's new nightmare & GnR tour

Azi a aparut noul album Alice Cooper, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, despre care am mai povestit, si voi mai povesti :)
dar tot acum citesc ca Guns N Roses, adica Axl & co se incumeta sa pornesca din nou in turneu ! adica ei se incumeta, dar si cine ii bookuieste ! deocamdata some dates in Octombrie in USA !
trupa e nominalizata pentru a intra in Rock n Roll Hall of Fame la anul in martie !
dar nu cred ca Axl si cu Slash o sa apara pe aceiasi scena (Duff and Izzy though au cintat deja cu Axl anul trecut!)!
pentru ca iata ce zice Axl 9in 2009):

"In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed. The less anyone heard of him or his supporters the better."

:->
cronica mea la unul din GnR in Bucuresti, unul din concertele mele preferate din 2010, aici !

RIP Cliff Robertson

Cliff Robertson, presedintele lumii !!!! din Escape from L.A. :), a murit pe 10 septembrie, la o zi dupa ce implinise 88 de ani.
A jucat rolul principal in filmul lui BDP din 1976, Obsession !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oscar in 1969 pentru Charly (regia Ralph Nelson, dupa cartea seminala SF "Flori pentru Algernon" de Daniel Keyes),
si recent unchiul lui Spider-man, Ben Parker, in trilogia lui Sam Raimi !
Cliff Robertson a demascat un scandal imens si o escrocherie financiara in Hollywood in 1977 si asta i-a daunat carierei sale, om de curaj si veteran de razboi, e unul din marii eroi din Tinseltown care au avut poate o viata mai brava si mai integra in afara ecranului !
Alte filme: Masquerade (Basil Dearden, 1965), The Devil's Brigade (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1968), Too Late The Hero al lui Robert Aldrich (1970), Three Days of the Condor (Sidney Pollack, 1975), si trei filme chul si infame din 1983, Class (in care Jacqueline Bisset devine Mrs Robinson), Brainstorm (ultimul film al Nathaliei Wood), si Star 80 (despre moartea playmatei Dorothy Stratten, as Hugh Hefner).
-Nu l-am vazut in The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972, Philip Kaufamn), western cult in care e Cole Younger din banda lui Jesse james (Robert Duvall), in rolul unui tinar pilot JFK in PT 109 (1963), si in debutul sau regizoral din 1971, J.W. Coop !
-In schimb a fost la cinema cind eram eu copil, in Pilotul (The Pilot, 1980), un film regizat de el, in care joaca un pilot alcoolic !

-cred ca ultima oara l-am vazut in filmul lui Sam Fuller, Underworld U.S.A. (1961), un gritty revenge film, in ciuda codului cenzurii !

dupa wikipedia:
One of Robertson's main hobbies was flying (...)
(nu degeaba a jucat atitia piloti! he was one in WW 2)

Robertson was airborne and piloting a private Beechcraft Baron directly over New York City on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was directly over the World Trade Center, climbing through 7,500 feet, when the first Boeing 767 struck. He was ordered by air traffic control to land immediately at the nearest airport following a nationwide order to ground all civilian and commercial aircraft following the attacks.