Uma Thurman Talks Stanley Kubrick’s Wartime Lies, Role of Her Career
When I think of actresses lucky enough to have a perfect part, one tailored and empowered with the entire spectrum of human emotion and not simply the giddy sex appeal that plagues Hollywood films, I think of Uma Thurman and Beatrix Kiddo/The Bride in Kill Bill. She should have received an Oscar nom for either volume, and won. While the following quote is in no way a slight at Tarantino, it was surprising to hear her say the following to MTV in regards to a role in Stanley Kubrick’s Wartime Lies, neither of which happened, obviously…
“It was devastating because it was an incredible part,” she confessed. “It would have been the part of my career, the best part I ever had been offered or had written for me, or anything.”
In no way am I comparing Tarantino to Kubrick right now, but it seriously caught me off guard, especially the “writing” part. Kubrick’s Wartime Lies, based on Louis Begley’s acclaimed novel, would have had Thurman play a Jewish woman who cares for her orphaned nephew as they face Nazi atrocities in Poland during the Holocaust and resort to taking the disguise of Catholics. More Uma…
“I was going to make a film with him — for a long time I was scheduled to make a film with him,” she said of “Wartime Lies,” a movie she was signed on to make with Kubrick in the early 90s. “I was contracted to do it and things happened and he shelved the film. He never made the film.”
An adaptation is currently being worked on by The Departed’s ever-busy William Monahan, but Thurman didn’t discuss whether she’s still being sought for the part. Let’s hope, because she belongs in higher-brow fare than My Super Ex-Girlfriend.
Mark Wahlberg to Star as Cocaine Cowboy for Peter Berg
Continuing his ascent as one of Hollywood’s go-to lead actors, Mark Wahlberg is set to star as an international drug dealer in a still untitled film based on real events for Hancock’s Peter Berg. The drug dealer in question is Jon Roberts, who a few of you may have seen in the shockingly good ‘06 documentary Cocaine Cowboys. Roberts operated a few clubs in New York, did a successful stint in Vietnam and soon after migrated to Miami where he became a top domestic distributor for the notorious Medellin cocaine cartel. His power and notoriety reached a level where he could pay off the Miami PD to shut down causeways and race cars, and other madness only seen in the visions of Rockstar Games. He later did a decade in prison. Wahlberg is currently filming Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, followed by Darren Aronofsky’s The Fighter alongside Brad Pitt, and you’ll see him next on screen in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. Dream a little dream, right?
It’s fascinating to me to see drug dealers become immortalized more and more with their very own Hollywood films. Now, Pablo Escobar is one thing, as anyone who’s read Killing Pablo (in development) can attest. He helped start one of the longest world wars of all time, the so-called War on Drugs. Then there’s George Jung, who had the luck of having Johnny Depp play him in Blow even though he looked more like Pizza the Hut. It’s debated that Jung introduced America to its billion dollar love affair with cocaine.
Most recently, we saw the life of ex-heroin dealer Frank Lucas in American Gangster, and watched the real guy brag to any outlet that would listen that Denzel Washington bought him a large house in appreciation for such a great role. And then Jay-Z got the urge to make a new bestselling album inspired by Lucas and the film. I’m not going to lie, I thought American Gangster was ethically questionable, basically attempting to mold an important historical figure out of foul air. And perhaps the dudes in Entourage would have been better off bringing the life story of the Ramones to the big screen, instead?
How do you feel about the new drug dealer biopic trend?
Source Link: Variety
100 New IMAX Screens
IMAX has inked a deal with AMC theaters to install 100 digital IMAX screens over the next three years. The screens will be installed in the company’s top-performing theaters in 33 top U.S. markets. For example, Variety says that 12 new IMAX will install screens in 12 locations in the Los Angeles area alone. The first 50 screens will be installed next year, 25 more in 2009, and 29 more in 2010. Right now there are currently 300 IMAX screens operating in 40 countries. Half of those theaters are educational venues (museums, aquariums, etc…) where Hollywood films are not screened.
It seems like every new Hollywood release sets a new IMAX record. I know it’s near impossible to walk up and buy a ticket the hour before a screening in San Francisco on Opening Weekend. People seem to really love the IMAX experience, even at a premium price. I will say this, I saw Beowulf in both IMAX and Real D 3-D, and the IMAX presentation was 10 times better. The images appear to come closer to you as a result of the large format screen, which limits peripheral vision.
IMAX Trivia:
- The biggest 3D IMAX screen is in Prasads IMAX located in Hyderabad, India.
- The biggest “IMAX Dome” is in the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey.
- The resolution of the IMAX frame is comparable to about 10000 x 7000 pixels.
- A standard IMAX screen is 22 m wide and 16.1 m high (72.6 ft x 52.8 ft), but can be larger.
photo credit: Flickr
Alex Proyas to Direct Silver Surfer Movie?
article about super hero filmmaking in Australia:
Arad would not name the films he planned to shoot in Australia, but he did reveal he was attempting to hire an Australian director for one of the movies. He declined to say the director’s name, but there has been speculation Australian director Alex Proyas was being wooed to direct the film adaptation of another Arad project, ‘Silver Surfer’.
Alex Proyas’ filmmaking career starting off with a bang. It’s clear this guy is a talented filmmaker, evident in his first couple of films: The Crow and Dark City. He later went on to direct Garage Days and the big screen adaptation of I, Robot, both of which were not greeted with as much enthusiasm. I find it interesting that Proyas would even consider making a Silver Surfer film. I’m not quite sure why. May-be I think he’s better than that. Or may-be I’m taking an elitist view because he’s chosen to do big Hollywood films over his substance filled earlier work.