When we think of the greatest actors who opted to retire, there are really so few that ended on a high note. Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread is the first one that comes to mind, but who else would even be close? Unfortunately, it isn’t Gene Hackman, who left Hollywood after a 40+ year on the screen following 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport…which is just about the most embarrassing way to cap off such a legendary career. Then again, maybe it’s just the sort of movie that would make you want to retire.
By the time filming began on what would be his last movie, Gene Hackman was in his mid-70s and had seen enough in the business to know who was competent and, well, who would be directing Welcome to Mooseport. As co-star Maura Tierney remembered, Hackman and Donald Petrie did not get along at all when making the movie.
By the time filming began on what would be his last movie, Gene Hackman was in his mid-70s and had seen enough in the business to know who was competent and, well, who would be directing Welcome to Mooseport. As co-star Maura Tierney remembered, Hackman and Donald Petrie did not get along at all when making the movie.
- 4/29/2024
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
One of the greatest crime movies of all time, "The French Connection" is William Friedkin's gritty drama based on a true story. Gene Hackman stars as Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, a no-nonsense, rule-breaking cop who gets caught up investigating a case in which the Italian mob is bringing drugs into America with the help of a French heroin-smuggling syndicate. But this isn't an open-and-shut case. The lawmen are seemingly foiled at every turn, and things end on a shocking, bleak note. It's an amazing movie with one of the best chase sequences ever captured on film. "The French Connection" was released nearly 53 years ago, which means many of its cast members have left us, along with director Friedkin, who died last year. But a few are still around. So here are the only major actors still alive from "The French Connection."
Read more: The 20 Best Detective Movies Ranked
Gene...
Read more: The 20 Best Detective Movies Ranked
Gene...
- 2/17/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Gene Hackman is one of the most versatile and accomplished character actors on film and is appreciated by critics and audiences for his clean, no-nonsense style of acting. In his film work, Hackman was famed for the every-man quality to his work with which audiences of all types could identify which he demonstrated in the more than 80 films in which he appeared.
Throughout his film career which lasted more than half a century, Hackman’s subtle work has been showered with honors. He has won two Academy Awards (for 1971’s “The French Connection” with William Friedkin and 1992’s “Unforgiven” with Clint Eastwood) from five nominations. He has been given an honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, while winning three competitive Globes from eight total nominations and is a Screen Actors Guild Award winner from his two nominations.
After appearing in 2004’s “Welcome to Mooseport,” Hackman announced that...
Throughout his film career which lasted more than half a century, Hackman’s subtle work has been showered with honors. He has won two Academy Awards (for 1971’s “The French Connection” with William Friedkin and 1992’s “Unforgiven” with Clint Eastwood) from five nominations. He has been given an honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, while winning three competitive Globes from eight total nominations and is a Screen Actors Guild Award winner from his two nominations.
After appearing in 2004’s “Welcome to Mooseport,” Hackman announced that...
- 1/26/2024
- by Tom O'Brien, Misty Holland and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
While we were all sad to hear that Michael Caine is retired, he most certainly earned the right to just kick back and just spend his days reading…or writing. And that’s just what Michael Caine has done, releasing his first novel at the age of 90.
Michael Caine’s thriller, Deadly Game, finds career criminal catcher Dci agent Harry Taylor tracking down a mysterious box of uranium and various nefarious types who might be tied to the contents. While I haven’t read the book in its entirety, the first few pages – and the plot itself – give off the sort of vibe of the movies that Michael Caine would have starred in in the ‘60s and ‘70s. No doubt that the lead character’s name, Harry, calls to mind his recurring spy character Harry Palmer and vigilante Harry Brown, the titular character that gave Caine one of the meatiest...
Michael Caine’s thriller, Deadly Game, finds career criminal catcher Dci agent Harry Taylor tracking down a mysterious box of uranium and various nefarious types who might be tied to the contents. While I haven’t read the book in its entirety, the first few pages – and the plot itself – give off the sort of vibe of the movies that Michael Caine would have starred in in the ‘60s and ‘70s. No doubt that the lead character’s name, Harry, calls to mind his recurring spy character Harry Palmer and vigilante Harry Brown, the titular character that gave Caine one of the meatiest...
- 1/7/2024
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
At the time of its 1978 release, "Superman" was one of the most expensive films ever made, boasting a $55 million budget. To tell the story of the famous Man of Steel — an out-of-this-world superhero of immense strength that stood for American values — director Richard Donner's film had to be larger-than-life. The colors were vivid, the airborne special effects were (at the time) groundbreaking, and it had an outstanding cast that truly brought these beloved comic book characters to life and treated them as dynamic individuals.
Christopher Reeve, especially, gives a spectacular performance in the lead role. What he does best is clearly mark the differences and tension between his naive, dweeby alter ego Clark Kent and the formidable Superman. You can literally see and hear the changes in his persona through the way he carries himself and uses his voice. Margot Kidder is his perfect romantic foil as the spunky Lois Lane,...
Christopher Reeve, especially, gives a spectacular performance in the lead role. What he does best is clearly mark the differences and tension between his naive, dweeby alter ego Clark Kent and the formidable Superman. You can literally see and hear the changes in his persona through the way he carries himself and uses his voice. Margot Kidder is his perfect romantic foil as the spunky Lois Lane,...
- 11/30/2023
- by Caroline Madden
- Slash Film
Since the second Academy Awards ceremony in 1930, 73 people have received acting Oscar nominations for their debut film performances, yielding a total of 15 breakout wins. Conversely, the list of actors who have earned recognition for their final movie appearances is much smaller, featuring only 18 general and two successful examples. Those who belong to this club gained entry in a variety of ways, with some having voluntarily quit acting altogether, others having specifically stepped away from film performing, and a few having sadly not lived long enough to bask in the glory of their farewell nominations.
Since film acting retirement can never be absolutely permanent while a performer is still alive, only deceased individuals can correctly be counted as official members of this group. Although most currently living retired actors did not pick up Oscar nominations for their latest films anyway, the academy did smile upon one – Daniel Day-Lewis – on his declared way out.
Since film acting retirement can never be absolutely permanent while a performer is still alive, only deceased individuals can correctly be counted as official members of this group. Although most currently living retired actors did not pick up Oscar nominations for their latest films anyway, the academy did smile upon one – Daniel Day-Lewis – on his declared way out.
- 11/28/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.
Today we discuss perhaps the greatest living actor: Gene Hackman! Conor and I are joined by one of our good, good friends Mitchell Beaupre! Senior Editor at Letterboxd, co-host of their Weekend Watchlist podcast (as well as the brand new podcast Acting Out with Ryan and Mitchell), and contributor to great sites like The Film Stage (!), Paste Magazine, The Playlist, and Little White Lies. Our B-Sides today are: All Night Long, The Package, Heartbreakers, and Welcome to Mooseport.
We talk Hackman’s beginnings, Mitchell’s superb piece on Hackman’s spectacular 2001, the actor’s own reflections on his accomplished career, his mid-career hiatus, and – finally – his frequent combativeness with his directors. Additional topics include Tommy Lee Jones’ wild ‘90s,...
Today we discuss perhaps the greatest living actor: Gene Hackman! Conor and I are joined by one of our good, good friends Mitchell Beaupre! Senior Editor at Letterboxd, co-host of their Weekend Watchlist podcast (as well as the brand new podcast Acting Out with Ryan and Mitchell), and contributor to great sites like The Film Stage (!), Paste Magazine, The Playlist, and Little White Lies. Our B-Sides today are: All Night Long, The Package, Heartbreakers, and Welcome to Mooseport.
We talk Hackman’s beginnings, Mitchell’s superb piece on Hackman’s spectacular 2001, the actor’s own reflections on his accomplished career, his mid-career hiatus, and – finally – his frequent combativeness with his directors. Additional topics include Tommy Lee Jones’ wild ‘90s,...
- 5/6/2022
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Lili Simmons (Power Book IV: Force), Kim Coates (The White Houe Plumbers), Igby Rigney (Midnight Mass), Tom Bower (El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie) and Justin Marcel McManus (Power Book II: Ghost) will topline Southern Gothic (working title), an upcoming indie drama from writer-director Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society), which has wrapped production.
The story is set in the dangerous and shady world of illegal, high-stakes keno gambling, in a run-down plantation house owned by Nick (Coates) in the rural South, at the turn of the 21st century. Nick is enamored with the smart, tough and charming Keno ace Diana’s (Simmons) intent to win big and is determined to stake her. Little Nick (Rigney), a one-time prodigy keno hustler, now reduced to servicing pool tables, strikes up a friendship with Diana and coaches her to win against the odds. Diana must then prove herself in a man’s...
The story is set in the dangerous and shady world of illegal, high-stakes keno gambling, in a run-down plantation house owned by Nick (Coates) in the rural South, at the turn of the 21st century. Nick is enamored with the smart, tough and charming Keno ace Diana’s (Simmons) intent to win big and is determined to stake her. Little Nick (Rigney), a one-time prodigy keno hustler, now reduced to servicing pool tables, strikes up a friendship with Diana and coaches her to win against the odds. Diana must then prove herself in a man’s...
- 4/8/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman retired from acting after starring in the 2004 comedy “Welcome to Mooseport” opposite Ray Romano, and he’s kept a reclusive profile in the 17 years since. However, Hackman made a surprise emergence this week to mark the 50th anniversary of William Friedkin’s “The French Connection.” The 1971 crime thriller won Hackman his only Oscar for Best Actor, although he was nominated in the category again for “Mississippi Burning.” Hackman’s second Oscar came in the Best Supporting Actor category for his work in “Unforgiven.” Speaking to the New York Post via email, Hackman revealed he has only watched “The French Connection” one time.
“ haven’t seen the film since the first screening in a dark, tiny viewing room in a post-production company’s facility 50 years ago,” Hackman said, adding, “If the film has a legacy, I am not sure what that would be. At the time,...
“ haven’t seen the film since the first screening in a dark, tiny viewing room in a post-production company’s facility 50 years ago,” Hackman said, adding, “If the film has a legacy, I am not sure what that would be. At the time,...
- 10/5/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Gene Hackman is celebrating a milestone birthday!
The two-time Academy Award winner turned 90 on Thursday, and although it’s been over a decade since he’s starred in a film, the retired actor’s fans are still as adoring as ever.
“The magnificent Gene Hackman turns 90 years old today. Cheers to one of the all-time greats,” wrote one fan on Twitter, as another added: “Happy Birthday #GeneHackman Thanks for all the awesomeness you brought to our lives.”
“90 wow! One of my favorite all time actors. Whenever he’s on the screen I’m watching him. His facial expressions are priceless #GeneHackman,...
The two-time Academy Award winner turned 90 on Thursday, and although it’s been over a decade since he’s starred in a film, the retired actor’s fans are still as adoring as ever.
“The magnificent Gene Hackman turns 90 years old today. Cheers to one of the all-time greats,” wrote one fan on Twitter, as another added: “Happy Birthday #GeneHackman Thanks for all the awesomeness you brought to our lives.”
“90 wow! One of my favorite all time actors. Whenever he’s on the screen I’m watching him. His facial expressions are priceless #GeneHackman,...
- 1/30/2020
- by Maria Pasquini
- PEOPLE.com
Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Schulman has issued a strong endorsement for David Goodman for re-election as president of the Writers Guild of America West.
In an email to WGA West members Wednesday, Schulman took issue with the claim by the opposition Writers Forward Together slate that they have never seen the Guild so divided. He noted that more than 7,000 members voted in March to support the leadership’s Code of Conduct to ban agency packaging fees and affiliate ownership, while around 300 opposed.
“In my 33 years as a Guild member, I’ve never seen anything close to 7,000 members turn out to vote on anything,” he said. “Far from divided, we have unprecedented solidarity.”
Schulman won an Academy Award for “Dead Poets Society” and has credits on “Welcome to Mooseport” and “What About Bob.” He was vice president of the WGA West from 2009-2011, and served on the board of directors from 2005-...
In an email to WGA West members Wednesday, Schulman took issue with the claim by the opposition Writers Forward Together slate that they have never seen the Guild so divided. He noted that more than 7,000 members voted in March to support the leadership’s Code of Conduct to ban agency packaging fees and affiliate ownership, while around 300 opposed.
“In my 33 years as a Guild member, I’ve never seen anything close to 7,000 members turn out to vote on anything,” he said. “Far from divided, we have unprecedented solidarity.”
Schulman won an Academy Award for “Dead Poets Society” and has credits on “Welcome to Mooseport” and “What About Bob.” He was vice president of the WGA West from 2009-2011, and served on the board of directors from 2005-...
- 9/11/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Happy 89th birthday to Gene Hackman on January 30, 2019! One of the most versatile and accomplished character actors on film, he is appreciated by critics and audiences for his clean, no-nonsense style of acting. In his film work, Hackman was famed for the every-man quality to his work with which audiences of all types could identify which he demonstrated in the more than 80 films in which he appeared.
SEEOscar Best Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History
Throughout his film career which lasted more than half a century, Hackman’s subtle work has been showered with honors. He has won two Academy Awards (for 1971’s “The French Connection” with William Friedkin and 1992’s “Unforgiven” with Clint Eastwood) from five nominations. He has been given an honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, while winning three competitive Globes from eight total nominations and is a Screen Actors Guild Award winner from his two nominations.
SEEOscar Best Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History
Throughout his film career which lasted more than half a century, Hackman’s subtle work has been showered with honors. He has won two Academy Awards (for 1971’s “The French Connection” with William Friedkin and 1992’s “Unforgiven” with Clint Eastwood) from five nominations. He has been given an honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, while winning three competitive Globes from eight total nominations and is a Screen Actors Guild Award winner from his two nominations.
- 1/30/2019
- by Tom O'Brien and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Gene Hackman has not starred in a film since 2004’s Welcome To Mooseport, and if you literally miss his voice then We, The Marines may be part of your holiday shopping.
Narrated by Hackman, the film takes a first-hand look at the men and woman who become part of the U.S. Marine Corps. The project was [...]
The post Gene Hackman Narrates Upcoming Shout! Factory Release ‘We, The Marines’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
Narrated by Hackman, the film takes a first-hand look at the men and woman who become part of the U.S. Marine Corps. The project was [...]
The post Gene Hackman Narrates Upcoming Shout! Factory Release ‘We, The Marines’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
- 11/29/2018
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
Which actors are the most "Presidential"? To find out, we assembled this exclusive list of actors who have portrayed the President of the United States more than once.
Getting the opportunity to portray a Us President in film is rare. It can be a dignified role, and many times the actor has to be able to exhibit certain qualities we would traditionally associate with the Us head of state. Us Presidents are also depicted in film in a variety of ways. Some of them are the main characters for their respective films, where others are simply bit parts designed to represent the figurehead. Other roles may be satires, caricatures, or played for comedic effect. Regardless of the purpose or the depth of the role, there have been a limited number of Us President roles in the last century+ of motion picture projection.
Of course, some actors are more Presidential than others.
Getting the opportunity to portray a Us President in film is rare. It can be a dignified role, and many times the actor has to be able to exhibit certain qualities we would traditionally associate with the Us head of state. Us Presidents are also depicted in film in a variety of ways. Some of them are the main characters for their respective films, where others are simply bit parts designed to represent the figurehead. Other roles may be satires, caricatures, or played for comedic effect. Regardless of the purpose or the depth of the role, there have been a limited number of Us President roles in the last century+ of motion picture projection.
Of course, some actors are more Presidential than others.
- 11/12/2018
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (G.S. Perno)
- Cinelinx
James Stewart decided to retire from acting in 1978 at age 70 when The Magic of Lassie flopped (“I can’t even open a dog movie.”) Paul Newman said he considered calling it quits after shooting a dim 1998 movie called Twilight (“You start to deliberately lose your memory.”)
Robert Redford didn’t specify his reasons this week for his announced retirement from acting, but perhaps the title of his final film The Old Man and the Gun provided a signal. The famously reticent actor, now 82, has worked steadily and productively but had not starred in a genuine hit since Out of Africa 30 years ago. His glory days, of course, were the ’70s when he won plaudits in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men. But Redford’s legacy also resides in the Sundance Film Festival and in his fervent advocacy of environmental causes.
In the heyday of the studio system,...
Robert Redford didn’t specify his reasons this week for his announced retirement from acting, but perhaps the title of his final film The Old Man and the Gun provided a signal. The famously reticent actor, now 82, has worked steadily and productively but had not starred in a genuine hit since Out of Africa 30 years ago. His glory days, of course, were the ’70s when he won plaudits in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men. But Redford’s legacy also resides in the Sundance Film Festival and in his fervent advocacy of environmental causes.
In the heyday of the studio system,...
- 8/9/2018
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
After winning three Academy Awards and establishing himself as one of the world's greatest living actors, Daniel Day-Lewis issued a statement last week announcing that he was retiring from acting, and that the film he recently completed, director Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread, would be his last film performance.
The decision came as a shock to fans of the 60-year-old actor and father of three, many of whom feel like he has a lot more to offer in the way of brilliant performances. However, he's far from the first star to retire before his or her time. Here's a look at just a few major stars, throughout the history of Hollywood, who have walked away from their careers in search of something different.
Watch: Daniel Day-Lewis Announces Retirement From Acting, Final Film 'Phantom Thread' to Premiere This Christmas
1. Sean Connery
20th Century Fox
After a long career playing everything from James Bond to romantic leads, Connery...
The decision came as a shock to fans of the 60-year-old actor and father of three, many of whom feel like he has a lot more to offer in the way of brilliant performances. However, he's far from the first star to retire before his or her time. Here's a look at just a few major stars, throughout the history of Hollywood, who have walked away from their careers in search of something different.
Watch: Daniel Day-Lewis Announces Retirement From Acting, Final Film 'Phantom Thread' to Premiere This Christmas
1. Sean Connery
20th Century Fox
After a long career playing everything from James Bond to romantic leads, Connery...
- 6/29/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
You know what literally every person says? "No one says rock and roll and drama like Ray Romano." Good thing he has been added to the Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger executive produced HBO pilot. Co-written by George Mastras (Breaking Bad) and Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter, the show is set in the music business in 1970s New York. It stars Bobby Cannavale as a record executive and Olivia Wilde as his bohemian wife. Romano will play Cannavale's tough right-hand man, with ties back to the old days (wink). You know, just like in Welcome to Mooseport.
- 5/2/2014
- by Jesse David Fox
- Vulture
The veteran performer never considered another profession, yet remained a background fixture in films for years. Now, in her ninth decade, the Nebraska star is up for her first Oscar
"I've met Idris Elba," says June Squibb, an edge of giddiness in her voice. "I've met Lupita [Nyong'o] and now we're friends. She's so sweet, a darling girl. I went up to her at a party and said: 'I'm June Squibb and we're in this together so I thought I should introduce myself.' Julia Roberts came and introduced herself to me – she's up for supporting this time around for Osage County." The day before we meet, Squibb went to the nominees' lunch. "All 270 of us got our picture taken together. I was right by Steve McQueen!"
Squibb, 84, but feeling like a first-timer, is nominated for best supporting actress this year for her diamond-sharp role in Alexander Payne's melancholy road movie Nebraska.
"I've met Idris Elba," says June Squibb, an edge of giddiness in her voice. "I've met Lupita [Nyong'o] and now we're friends. She's so sweet, a darling girl. I went up to her at a party and said: 'I'm June Squibb and we're in this together so I thought I should introduce myself.' Julia Roberts came and introduced herself to me – she's up for supporting this time around for Osage County." The day before we meet, Squibb went to the nominees' lunch. "All 270 of us got our picture taken together. I was right by Steve McQueen!"
Squibb, 84, but feeling like a first-timer, is nominated for best supporting actress this year for her diamond-sharp role in Alexander Payne's melancholy road movie Nebraska.
- 2/28/2014
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
Gene Hackman is still somewhere in the middle of America allowing Welcome to Mooseport to be his final film, and Steven Soderbergh still hasn't emerged to tell us his retirement plans were a terrible mistake, but there's at least one legend who isn't going anywhere any time soon. Despite rumors that surfaced today about his imminent retirement, Jack Nicholson is reportedly keeping up his intermittent acting career, according to E!. They got Maria Shriver, of all the random people in the world, to debunk a rumor from Radar Online that Nicholson was retiring from acting after memory problems made it too difficult for him to memorize lines. The notion that being unable to remember your lines could keep an acting legend away from the screen seemed pretty silly to begin with-- Marlon Brando had poor Robert Duvall hold up cue cards for him while filming The Godfather, for God's sake.
- 9/4/2013
- cinemablend.com
Mitt Romney has found the perfect big-screen dopplegänger. And it's not Clint Eastwood. Appearing on ABC's Live! With Kelly and Michael, the Republican presidential candidate was asked what Hollywood star he'd most like to see portray him in a movie. His reply? Gene Hackman! While Romney confessed the screen legend is his "favorite actor," alas, Hackman's firmly ensconced in retirement following his swan song, 2004's Welcome to Mooseport and has no plans to make a comeback. Not to mention the fact the two-time Oscar winner is now 82, a generation older than the 65-year-old former governor (who—all due respect to Gene—has a full mop of...
- 9/14/2012
- E! Online
Trouble with the Curve
Directed by: Robert Lorenz
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: September 21, 2012
Trailer Score: 8/10
Thoughts by Tsr: Clint Eastwood hasn’t acted in a film directed by anyone other than Clint Eastwood since 1993’s In the Line of Fire – unless we count his legendary cameo in Casper – so this is pretty notable (though Robert Lorenz is an Eastwood man, so it probably won’t feel much different). I would have been fine with Gran Torino’s ending being the last time we saw him on screen, but he’s not through yet. It’d be a shame if this turned out to be something of a Welcome to Mooseport situation (come on, Gene Hackman, please come back for one more!). Luckily, this trailer makes Trouble with the Curve look like a charming film with some strong performances.
The tone is fairly light,...
Directed by: Robert Lorenz
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: September 21, 2012
Trailer Score: 8/10
Thoughts by Tsr: Clint Eastwood hasn’t acted in a film directed by anyone other than Clint Eastwood since 1993’s In the Line of Fire – unless we count his legendary cameo in Casper – so this is pretty notable (though Robert Lorenz is an Eastwood man, so it probably won’t feel much different). I would have been fine with Gran Torino’s ending being the last time we saw him on screen, but he’s not through yet. It’d be a shame if this turned out to be something of a Welcome to Mooseport situation (come on, Gene Hackman, please come back for one more!). Luckily, this trailer makes Trouble with the Curve look like a charming film with some strong performances.
The tone is fairly light,...
- 8/20/2012
- by Shane T. Nier
- The Scorecard Review
It’s movies like this one that make me despair. Because it is going to make a bazillion bucks at the box office around the world -- the three previous flicks in the series have grossed close to $2 billion -- and there’s absolute nothing here that warrants such success. Unless one considers its dubious “quality” of lowest-common-denominator-ness a smart business move: the Ice Age movies have always been just bland enough and just colorful enough and just simplistic enough to be just passably tolerable enough to viewers across global cultures. It’s hard to imagine that anyone actually has fond memories of those films -- or even any notable memories at all. They’re nothing more than forgettable time-wasters that are just inoffensive enough to not keep audiences away. I find that kind of inoffensiveness offensive, though. Alas for me, the object lesson that those three earlier films taught...
- 7/9/2012
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Jay Roach directed Game Change, HBO’s docudrama about the 2008 election that conservative critics resented because they thought it lampooned Sarah Palin. In his summer comedy, The Campaign, lampooning the candidates is the whole point. As you can see from the new poster, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis go nose-to-nose in a crucial congressional election in North Carolina. Ferrell is a slimy incumbent who’s never faced a real electoral challenge, while Galifianakis plays the clueless outsider who wants to clean up Washington. “May the Best Loser Win,” reads the tagline. I already like this better than Welcome to Mooseport.
- 6/5/2012
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Although Antje Traue won’t be able to show American audiences her acting chops for another sixteen months or so, Variety informs us that the German actress has already racked up a post-Man of Steel role for herself. As they report, Traue will come on board The Seventh Son, which sees Mongol helmer Sergey Bodrov directing Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Ben Barnes, Alicia Vikander, and Kit Harington in a dark fantasy tale filled with witches, wizards, and other things in that mystical tone.
Specifics — or, for that matter, general information — on Traue‘s character are not to be found in the Variety story. Here’s Amazon‘s synopsis of Joseph Delaney‘s novel upon which the film is based, for whatever compensation that may end up being:
“When 12-year-old Thomas, seventh son of a seventh son, is apprenticed to the local Spook, whose job is to fight evil spirits and witches,...
Specifics — or, for that matter, general information — on Traue‘s character are not to be found in the Variety story. Here’s Amazon‘s synopsis of Joseph Delaney‘s novel upon which the film is based, for whatever compensation that may end up being:
“When 12-year-old Thomas, seventh son of a seventh son, is apprenticed to the local Spook, whose job is to fight evil spirits and witches,...
- 2/22/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
It is a sad but inescapable fact that the last time we saw Mr. Gene Hackman on a movie screen was in the flaccid 2004 farce called Welcome to Mooseport. Presently 82 years of age, the brilliant actor seems to have faded into a life of well-deserved retirement. And as much as I'd love to see the man deliver at least one more stellar performance, hell, the guy's done enough great acting for three lifetimes. So in honor of an actor I've adored since I was a wee little movie nerd watching Superman, here is a list of my ten favorite Gene Hackman movies. Oh, and today is the man's 82nd birthday! Bonnie & Clyde (1967) -- Nominated for his fantastic turn as Buck Barrow, the ill-fated big brother to Clyde. The French Connection (1971) / French Connection 2...
Read More...
Read More...
- 1/30/2012
- by Scott Weinberg
- Movies.com
It is a sad but inescapable fact that the last time we saw Mr. Gene Hackman on a movie screen was in the flaccid 2004 farce called Welcome to Mooseport. Now in his 80s, the brilliant actor seems to have faded into a life of well-deserved retirement. And as much as I'd love to see the man deliver at least one more stellar performance, hell, the guy's done enough great acting for three lifetimes. So in honor of an actor I've adored since I was a wee little movie nerd watching Superman, here is a list of my 10 favorite Gene Hackman movies. Oh, and today is the man's 82nd birthday! Bonnie & Clyde (1967) -- Nominated for his fantastic turn as Buck Barrow, Clyde's ill-fated big brother. The French Connection (1971) / French Connection 2 (1975) -- Ok, so Part 2 is little...
Read More
Read Comments...
Read More
Read Comments...
- 1/30/2012
- by affiliates@fandango.com
- Fandango
It is a sad but inescapable fact that the last time we saw Mr. Gene Hackman on a movie screen was in the flaccid 2004 farce called Welcome to Mooseport. Now in his 80s, the brilliant actor seems to have faded into a life of well-deserved retirement. And as much as I'd love to see the man deliver at least one more stellar performance, hell, the guy's done enough great acting for three lifetimes. So in honor of an actor I've adored since I was a wee little movie nerd watching Superman, here is a list of my 10 favorite Gene Hackman movies. Oh, and today is the man's 82nd birthday! Bonnie & Clyde (1967) -- Nominated for his fantastic turn as Buck Barrow, Clyde's ill-fated big brother. The French Connection (1971) / French Connection 2 (1975) -- Ok, so Part 2 is little...
Read More
Read Comments...
Read More
Read Comments...
- 1/30/2012
- by affiliates@fandango.com
- Fandango
Scary news to pass along: According to TMZ, acting legend Gene Hackman was hit by a car in Florida on Friday afternoon.
The actor, who is a couple of weeks shy of his 82nd birthday, was riding his bike when he was struck by a car. Per the Florida Highway Patrol, Hackman was airlifted to a trauma hospital after suffering injuries to his head and body. He's reportedly in stable condition.
Hackman won Oscars for his work in "The French Connection" and "Unforgiven," and was also nominated three other times -- for "Mississippi Burning,""I Never Sang for My Father" and "Bonnie and Clyde." His last film was "Welcome to Mooseport" in 2004, after which, Hackman retired. Sorta.
"If I could do [one more movie] in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people,"he told GQ last summer, when faced with the idea of making another movie.
The actor, who is a couple of weeks shy of his 82nd birthday, was riding his bike when he was struck by a car. Per the Florida Highway Patrol, Hackman was airlifted to a trauma hospital after suffering injuries to his head and body. He's reportedly in stable condition.
Hackman won Oscars for his work in "The French Connection" and "Unforgiven," and was also nominated three other times -- for "Mississippi Burning,""I Never Sang for My Father" and "Bonnie and Clyde." His last film was "Welcome to Mooseport" in 2004, after which, Hackman retired. Sorta.
"If I could do [one more movie] in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people,"he told GQ last summer, when faced with the idea of making another movie.
- 1/13/2012
- by Christopher Rosen
- Moviefone
For many, the list of actors that are missed more than Gene Hackman isn’t all that long. His retirement in 2004, though not quite “official,” seems to have been legitimate, as the only acting credit he’s had since then is for Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut — and that’s all footage from the late ’70s-early ’80s.
If Alexander Payne gets his way, Hackman‘s last movie won’t be the awful Welcome to Mooseport. The Descendants writer & director is preparing his next feature, a Robert Nelson-scripted drama about a father and son who take a road trip from Montana to Nebraska so the father can “claim his million-dollar sweepstakes prize” with Publisher’s Clearing House. We heard in January that Descendants actor Robert Forster was rumored for the role of the dad, Casey Affleck the role of the son. As Vulture reports, Forster is still in contention for the lead part,...
If Alexander Payne gets his way, Hackman‘s last movie won’t be the awful Welcome to Mooseport. The Descendants writer & director is preparing his next feature, a Robert Nelson-scripted drama about a father and son who take a road trip from Montana to Nebraska so the father can “claim his million-dollar sweepstakes prize” with Publisher’s Clearing House. We heard in January that Descendants actor Robert Forster was rumored for the role of the dad, Casey Affleck the role of the son. As Vulture reports, Forster is still in contention for the lead part,...
- 10/12/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
We all want Gene Hackman to return to acting, don't we? Don't you just get a pang whenever you hear those Lowe's ads, and wonder "Where the hell are you, Hackman? Did 'Welcome to Mooseport' break you that badly?" I remember reading once, somewhere, that even Clint Eastwood tried to persuade him to come back for some film or other, and Hackman just wouldn't. Well, Alexander Payne is prepping his next film, "Nebraska." It follows, according to Vulture, "a geriatric gin-hound of a dad who takes his estranged son with him from Montana to Publisher's Clearing House headquarters — with a detour through Omaha, Nebraska — in order to claim his million-dollar sweepstakes prize." If all was just in the world, Bruce Springsteen would be doing the soundtrack as Nebraska II, but it's not, particularly since Paramount is taking great issue with the budget. They've made Payne shave off $10 million,...
- 10/12/2011
- LRMonline.com
It's always sad when an actor retires and you know they've still got something left in the tank. It's especially sad when an actor retires and their last movie was Welcome To Mooseport. Such is the case with Gene Hackman, the actor who retired after that horrendous 2004 Ray Romano comedy and has been content to do Lowe's commercials and going to Jacksonville Jaguars games ever since. Directors Clint Eastwood and Tony Scott have tried to convince Hackman to return to acting to no avail, but...
- 10/12/2011
- by Mike Sampson
- JoBlo.com
Any fan of Quentin Tarantino’s body of work knows that the guy loves to spice his movies with actors whose careers could really, really use a shot in the arm (metaphorically speaking). And it looked like for Tarantino’s next film — the period-slave-picture-slash-spaghetti-Western Django Unchained — he’d smiled upon the dimming star of a man who was once the Biggest Movie Star in the World: Kevin Costner. But then, yesterday, Costner dropped out of the film due to an over-crowded schedule (playing Pa Kent in Man of Steel may be enough of a career boost, I suppose).
The role was especially juicy,...
The role was especially juicy,...
- 9/27/2011
- by Adam B. Vary
- EW.com - PopWatch
Kurt here with a new Cinema de Gym, the first to focus on a movie I never knew existed before my cardio session. Is everyone familiar with Opportunity Knocks? It's a 1990 comedy noteworthy for being the breakout film for SNL alum Dana Carvey. With his straw-blonde hair styled into what I remember to be an almost-mullet, Carvey plays Eddie Farrell, a California con man whose slovenly style (oversized shirts, khakis with sneakers) is used to convey an enviably carefree outlook (as opposed to Steve Carrells's version of the same style in this week's Crazy, Stupid, Love., which is used to convey unenviable cluelessness). I entered the movie just as it was starting (another first), and got to see the unremarkable opening credits blip onto the screen as Carvey strutted down the street in his lazy dude's attire. There was no telling why he was carrying a potted plant.
Turns out...
Turns out...
- 7/29/2011
- by Kurtis O
- FilmExperience
"Is Gene Hackman retired from acting?" reads the title of the iconic actor's rare interview with GQ. So, is he? "If I could do [one more movie] in my own house, maybe, without them disturbing anything and just one or two people." Sounds like someone wants to try his hand at mumblecore! For what it's worth, Hackman was last seen onscreen in the 2004 comedy Welcome to Mooseport. [GQ]...
- 6/4/2011
- Movieline
Like most members of Generation Y, ever since the Playstation Network went down I've been drifting aimlessly through my weekends. I finished the phenomenal Portal 2 (2011) just as the Psn closed down; leaving what I am told is a stellar co-op experience impossible. Yet, while my video game habit has suffered from this hacker induced technological and ludic disaster, another habit has been given some much needed breeze in its sails: movie watching. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes the last thing I want to do with my free time is watch movies. I tend to spend the bulk of my time doing it and, like any habit pushed to the highest levels of involvement, it can be draining. So I fasted, cinematically, for a few days and ended up purging myself on a glut of Errol Morris documentaries and a neo-noir that had evaded my noir cinephilia: Arthur Penn...
- 5/4/2011
- by Drew Morton
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens — some of the most Googled actors working today. All four young stars have multiple projects lined up and will no doubt have long careers to look forward to… or will they? Today’s above-the-title marquee names are easily turned into tomorrow’s TV-movie walk-ons. Don’t believe us? Let’s take a look at nine headliners from years past — actors who entertained us time and time again and who today, for one reason or another, have faded into obscurity…
9. Gene Wilder
When younger audiences think of Willy Wonka, they likely picture Johnny Depp’s soft-voiced, porcelain-skinned, man-child in Tim Burton’s 2005 re-imagining, but the quintessential Wonka will always be found in the form of the great Gene Wilder. Wilder’s manic performance in the original 1971 adaptation was the stuff of legend, achieving the rare feat of being both sweet and sinister all at once.
9. Gene Wilder
When younger audiences think of Willy Wonka, they likely picture Johnny Depp’s soft-voiced, porcelain-skinned, man-child in Tim Burton’s 2005 re-imagining, but the quintessential Wonka will always be found in the form of the great Gene Wilder. Wilder’s manic performance in the original 1971 adaptation was the stuff of legend, achieving the rare feat of being both sweet and sinister all at once.
- 1/21/2011
- by Cybergosh
- NextMovie
Screen legend Gene Hackman may have quietly retired from acting a few years back, but that doesn't mean his creative juices have frozen. Hackman, whose last film was (tragically) 2004's Welcome To Mooseport, has been occupying his twilight time with writing (in between the occasional pitchwork for Lowe's). The 80-year-old star of classics like The French Connection, The Conversation, Hoosiers and Unforgiven, will publish his first solo novel next summer. The book, titled "Jubal's...
- 9/29/2010
- by Dave Davis
- JoBlo.com
Filed under: Cinematical
There doesn't seem to be much contention or wiggle-room when arguing about Michael Douglas' best role. 'Wall Street's' Gordon Gekko was greedier than Scarface and did more cocaine than, um, Scarface, and the character remains so enmeshed in the fabric of our culture that this weekend's sequel feels relevant despite the 23 years that have passed since Oliver Stone's original was first released (the recent financial meltdown also helps). Sure, Douglas has been reliably memorable in almost everything he's ever done (this is the part where you list your favorite Douglas performances and then make a lame but essential Catherine Zeta-Jones sex joke), and even his dreck tends to be kind of remarkable in its own right ('Don't Say A Word'), but to most people he'll always be considered Gordon Gekko. Which is a bit of a bummer, because his best role was actually...
There doesn't seem to be much contention or wiggle-room when arguing about Michael Douglas' best role. 'Wall Street's' Gordon Gekko was greedier than Scarface and did more cocaine than, um, Scarface, and the character remains so enmeshed in the fabric of our culture that this weekend's sequel feels relevant despite the 23 years that have passed since Oliver Stone's original was first released (the recent financial meltdown also helps). Sure, Douglas has been reliably memorable in almost everything he's ever done (this is the part where you list your favorite Douglas performances and then make a lame but essential Catherine Zeta-Jones sex joke), and even his dreck tends to be kind of remarkable in its own right ('Don't Say A Word'), but to most people he'll always be considered Gordon Gekko. Which is a bit of a bummer, because his best role was actually...
- 9/23/2010
- by David Ehrlich
- Moviefone
Filed under: Cinematical
There doesn't seem to be much contention or wiggle-room when arguing about Michael Douglas' best role. 'Wall Street's' Gordon Gekko was greedier than Scarface and did more cocaine than, um, Scarface, and the character remains so enmeshed in the fabric of our culture that this weekend's sequel feels relevant despite the 23 years that have passed since Oliver Stone's original was first released (the recent financial meltdown also helps). Sure, Douglas has been reliably memorable in almost everything he's ever done (this is the part where you list your favorite Douglas performances and then make a lame but essential Catherine Zeta-Jones sex joke), and even his dreck tends to be kind of remarkable in its own right ('Don't Say A Word'), but to most people he'll always be considered Gordon Gekko. Which is a bit of a bummer, because his best role was actually...
There doesn't seem to be much contention or wiggle-room when arguing about Michael Douglas' best role. 'Wall Street's' Gordon Gekko was greedier than Scarface and did more cocaine than, um, Scarface, and the character remains so enmeshed in the fabric of our culture that this weekend's sequel feels relevant despite the 23 years that have passed since Oliver Stone's original was first released (the recent financial meltdown also helps). Sure, Douglas has been reliably memorable in almost everything he's ever done (this is the part where you list your favorite Douglas performances and then make a lame but essential Catherine Zeta-Jones sex joke), and even his dreck tends to be kind of remarkable in its own right ('Don't Say A Word'), but to most people he'll always be considered Gordon Gekko. Which is a bit of a bummer, because his best role was actually...
- 9/23/2010
- by David Ehrlich
- Cinematical
Congratulations are in order for Amanda Bynes, the accomplished "All That" actress who announced her unretirement after just one month of supposedly leaving the film industry forever. Bynes announced her decision to "unretire" a few short days ago, providing fans of her work with plenty of cause to celebrate. Of course, skeptics and detractors have plenty of cause to celebrate, too.
Retirement is a tenuous thing in the film industry. With the right material or a hefty enough paycheck, anyone can come out of hiding. Still, there are certain actors who are a bit more committed to the idea of retirement than Bynes apparently was — actors who we really want to see make a comeback.
After the jump, check out five actors who should follow Bynes' example and "unretire" themselves back into the acting game!
Sean Connery
After he turned down the opportunity to reprise his role as Henry Jones,...
Retirement is a tenuous thing in the film industry. With the right material or a hefty enough paycheck, anyone can come out of hiding. Still, there are certain actors who are a bit more committed to the idea of retirement than Bynes apparently was — actors who we really want to see make a comeback.
After the jump, check out five actors who should follow Bynes' example and "unretire" themselves back into the acting game!
Sean Connery
After he turned down the opportunity to reprise his role as Henry Jones,...
- 7/27/2010
- by Josh Wigler
- MTV Movies Blog
Tony Scott will be directing movie Potsdamer Platz, about two members of a New Jersey crime family who decide to expand their business internationally.
We started this report with those words, because it’s quite interesting that members we mentioned, could actually be some very well-known names.
Check this out: Mickey Rourke, Javier Bardem and Jason Statham in one movie? Does that sound like a dream team or what?
So, let us repeat the basic story once again. The novel tells the tale of a New York Mafia family who start a massive criminal organization in Berlin at a construction site located in Potsdamer Platz, a famos public Square.
The funny thing of the whole story is information that the script is getting a massive change of scenery; they claim the setting will move from Europe to Puerto Rico.
The screenplay, initially written by Buddy Giovinazzo, has been taken on...
We started this report with those words, because it’s quite interesting that members we mentioned, could actually be some very well-known names.
Check this out: Mickey Rourke, Javier Bardem and Jason Statham in one movie? Does that sound like a dream team or what?
So, let us repeat the basic story once again. The novel tells the tale of a New York Mafia family who start a massive criminal organization in Berlin at a construction site located in Potsdamer Platz, a famos public Square.
The funny thing of the whole story is information that the script is getting a massive change of scenery; they claim the setting will move from Europe to Puerto Rico.
The screenplay, initially written by Buddy Giovinazzo, has been taken on...
- 4/13/2010
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
Mark highlights lots of screen politicians - and one banker - you wouldn't want running your country...
Here in Britain, Parliament has been dissolved and there's just under a month until the UK goes to the polling booths to decide who has to put up with taxes, education and all that joy for the next five or so years. This isn't the time for Den Of Geek to get political, but we would like to say don't worry - politicians could be a lot worse than they are.
So often in films, politicians are all that is villainous, slimy or incompetent about the cast of characters, so imagine if one of these movie politicians got into office next month.
You'd be yearning for the days when a ministerial cock-up entailed the receipt for a Battlefield Earth DVD turning up on the register of ministers' interests, rather than the destruction of...
Here in Britain, Parliament has been dissolved and there's just under a month until the UK goes to the polling booths to decide who has to put up with taxes, education and all that joy for the next five or so years. This isn't the time for Den Of Geek to get political, but we would like to say don't worry - politicians could be a lot worse than they are.
So often in films, politicians are all that is villainous, slimy or incompetent about the cast of characters, so imagine if one of these movie politicians got into office next month.
You'd be yearning for the days when a ministerial cock-up entailed the receipt for a Battlefield Earth DVD turning up on the register of ministers' interests, rather than the destruction of...
- 4/12/2010
- Den of Geek
I have to work on other stuff and I don't really care about this story because I think Tony Scott has lost it so this will be brief. Deadline has news on Tony Scott's next project called "Potsdamer Platz". Here you go:Potzdamer Platz is shaping up as to be the next film that Tony Scott will direct. He has Javier Bardem, Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke circling--along with three financiers--for a drama about two soldiers in a New Jersey-based crime family who try to expand internationally. By the time the picture pulls together its financing and distribution for a fall start, it will probably have a new title. Potzdamer Platz refers to a train station and bustling commerce center in Germany, and I’m told the venue is being changed to Puerto Rico. I’d heard that in addition to that trio of thesps, Scott was hoping to coax...
- 4/8/2010
- LRMonline.com
Best Films Of The Decade (aka The Naughties) From Alex & Terry
List # 1
By Alex Simon
When Terry and I initially discussed writing these lists, I had a tough time thinking back on 20 films over the past decade which I was really taken with, thinking that movies have sunk so low over the past ten years, that even choosing a dozen would be a short-order job. Thirty minutes into it, my list had nearly 60 titles! After much cutting, pasting, and re-cutting and pasting, here are my top 20 films (in no particular order) of the first decade of the 21st century, dubbed by many as “the naughties.” --A.S.
1.No Country for Old Men (Coen Brothers, 2007) An elegiac blend of stark beauty and full-throttle despair from two of our finest filmmakers, set in the contemporary American West. Every frame is damn near flawless, and would have been an even more perfect vehicle for the late Sam Peckinpah.
List # 1
By Alex Simon
When Terry and I initially discussed writing these lists, I had a tough time thinking back on 20 films over the past decade which I was really taken with, thinking that movies have sunk so low over the past ten years, that even choosing a dozen would be a short-order job. Thirty minutes into it, my list had nearly 60 titles! After much cutting, pasting, and re-cutting and pasting, here are my top 20 films (in no particular order) of the first decade of the 21st century, dubbed by many as “the naughties.” --A.S.
1.No Country for Old Men (Coen Brothers, 2007) An elegiac blend of stark beauty and full-throttle despair from two of our finest filmmakers, set in the contemporary American West. Every frame is damn near flawless, and would have been an even more perfect vehicle for the late Sam Peckinpah.
- 12/28/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Recently, I caught a pay-cable broadcast of Wes Anderson's 2001 masterpiece The Royal Tenenbaums, with Gene Hackman playing the charming scoundrel Royal Tenenbaum, lapsed paterfamilias of the famed Tenenbaum family. It's a performance of such rich, carefree wit and pathos that it well deserved an Oscar nomination (Sean Penn was nominated for I Am Sam instead), but more to the point, it made me realize just how much I've missed Hackman's calmly accomplished, always sharp presence on movie screens. Ever since the 2004 bomb Welcome to Mooseport, Hackman's been Mia at the multiplex. In 2008, he told Reuters that he had indeed retired from acting,...
- 12/26/2009
- by Adam B. Vary
- EW.com - PopWatch
From a press release
Corner Gas’ Fred Ewanuick leads comic cast currently shooting in Toronto, Kitchener and Waterloo, On.Creative team helmed by three of Canada’s most-respected writers.
CTV and The Comedy Network, in association with Sad Glasses and Qvf Inc., announced today that production is underway on the original Canadian comedy series, Dan For Mayor in Toronto, Kitchener and Waterloo, On. Starring Corner Gas and Robson Arms alumnus Fred Ewanuick as the lead character Dan, the 13, 30-minute episode series will continue principal photography through November.
Dan (Ewanuick) is a 30-something bartender who lives and works in the fictional city of Wessex, On. Dan’s had the same friends since grade school, his most prized possession is a vintage Ms. Pac-Man game and his last serious relationship was with a girl who is now engaged to someone else. His life seems to be firmly on the path to more of the same…...
Corner Gas’ Fred Ewanuick leads comic cast currently shooting in Toronto, Kitchener and Waterloo, On.Creative team helmed by three of Canada’s most-respected writers.
CTV and The Comedy Network, in association with Sad Glasses and Qvf Inc., announced today that production is underway on the original Canadian comedy series, Dan For Mayor in Toronto, Kitchener and Waterloo, On. Starring Corner Gas and Robson Arms alumnus Fred Ewanuick as the lead character Dan, the 13, 30-minute episode series will continue principal photography through November.
Dan (Ewanuick) is a 30-something bartender who lives and works in the fictional city of Wessex, On. Dan’s had the same friends since grade school, his most prized possession is a vintage Ms. Pac-Man game and his last serious relationship was with a girl who is now engaged to someone else. His life seems to be firmly on the path to more of the same…...
- 10/11/2009
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
COLOGNE, Germany -- 20th Century Fox has hooked up with German tax fund IMF to co-finance at least two of its upcoming film slates, fund initiator Deutsche Capita Management said Wednesday. IMF said it plans to raise 150 million ($184.9 million) to back two Fox slates of two features each, with budgets ranging from $10 million-$100 million. Fox will submit potential projects to the fund by Dec. 10, and fund shareholders will decide which features to back at a Dec. 18 meeting in Munich. Fox is no stranger to the German fund market, having previously secured backing from Ideenkapital's Medieastream for features including I, Robot, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Welcome to Mooseport, and from Hannover Leasing for such films as Shallow Hal and Life as a House.
- 9/30/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Variety reports that wonderfully trashy TV director Jason Ensler (Martha, Inc.) will direct Kevin James and Ray Romano in Grilled, a Matt Nix-written buddy comedy just green-lighted at New Line Cinema. The film pairs the TV faves as door-to-door salesmen desperate to unload a massive amount of frozen beef, before they themselves become dead meat. James is currently in production on Andy Tennant's Last First Kiss with Will Smith and Eva Mendes; Romano's looking to put Welcome to Mooseport behind him with the upcoming Eulogy, a dark ensemble comedy from Michael Clancy.
- 5/3/2004
- IMDbPro News
Opens
Friday, February 20
Welcome to Mooseport joins the ranks of Hollywood movies about politics that are devoid of political content. Offering mild observations about celebrity and the media, the film centers on a popular ex-president's transition from the White House to rustic New England. The script by Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society, "What About Bob?") is concerned mainly with personal integrity and romantic commitment, subjects he treats with vague generalities. From the first scenes of Mooseport, which unfolds like a sitcom pilot, it's evident where the pieces will fall. When they do, the impact is minor.
Compounding the sense of predictability and Deja Vu is the presence of well-known TV actors portraying the sorts of characters they've perfected on the small screen. Ray Romano, making his onscreen film debut (after a voice role in Ice Age), puts his tentative, low-voltage delivery to effective use in playing a regular guy -- but fans of Everybody Loves Raymond will find more laughs in his weekly series. Film vets Gene Hackman and Marcia Gay Harden lend whatever nuance they can muster, but there's only so much to be done with Schulman's broad-stroke comedy. When the votes are in, the Donald Petrie-helmed film will poll strongest among older audiences, but it won't secure a landslide for Fox.
Hackman plays the very presidentially named Monroe Eagle Cole, a Democrat fresh off two terms with approval ratings through the roof. A smooth operator with a self-deprecating facade, Monroe is essentially decent and driven by ego -- Hackman puts it all across with his customary naturalness. As the first commander-in-chief to be divorced while in office, he's facing tough alimony negotiations with his vindictive ex (Christine Baranski, in what feels like inevitable casting). With his entourage of Secret Service and staff, Monroe sets up camp at his sprawling summer estate in the laid-back burg of Mooseport, Maine.
Before he can choose among big-bucks offers for memoirs and speaking engagements, the village elders enlist him to fill the void left by their deceased mayor. But what was meant to be an unchallenged run for office turns into a close -- and closely watched -- race between the ex-president and a plumber.
The rivalry between Monroe and Handy Harrison (Romano) is less about issues than about jealousy and male posturing -- specifically for the affections of veterinarian Sally (Maura Tierney), Handy's girlfriend of six years. In a tired story line whose outcome is clear, she's increasingly frustrated with his refusal to pop the question and quickly says yes when Monroe asks her out.
Rip Torn, playing Monroe's campaign manager, arrives upon the scene like a much-needed tonic to the bland proceedings. In the film's best sequences, political strategy sessions focus on urgencies like whether the former president should cancel a date, and the broadcast media get mileage out of his rebuffed good-night kiss.
Those bright moments don't compensate for Petrie and Schulman's condescending view of ain't-they-wacky yokels. Costumer Vicki Graef and production designer David Chapman emphasize the cliched divide between the power elite's country chic and the plaid-flannel brigade's down-home clutter.
WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT
20th Century Fox
Mediastream IV/Intermedia
Credits:
Director: Donald Petrie
Screenwriter: Tom Schulman
Producers: Tom Schulman, Basil Iwanyk
Executive producers: Rory Rosegarten, David Coatsworth, Moritz Borman, Doug Richardson
Director of photography: Victor Hammer
Production designer: David Chapman
Music: John Debney
Costume designer: Vicki Graef
Editor: Debra Neil-Fisher
Cast:
Monroe Cole: Gene Hackman
Handy Harrison: Ray Romano
Grace Sutherland: Marcia Gay Harden
Sally Mannis: Maura Tierney
Charlotte Cole: Christine Baranski
Bullard: Fred Savage
Bert Langdon: Rip Torn
Irma: June Squibb
Morris: Wayne Robson
Martha: Jackie Richardson
Mandy: Reagan Pasternak
Reuben: Jim Feather
Harve: Ed Fielding
Running time -- 111 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Friday, February 20
Welcome to Mooseport joins the ranks of Hollywood movies about politics that are devoid of political content. Offering mild observations about celebrity and the media, the film centers on a popular ex-president's transition from the White House to rustic New England. The script by Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society, "What About Bob?") is concerned mainly with personal integrity and romantic commitment, subjects he treats with vague generalities. From the first scenes of Mooseport, which unfolds like a sitcom pilot, it's evident where the pieces will fall. When they do, the impact is minor.
Compounding the sense of predictability and Deja Vu is the presence of well-known TV actors portraying the sorts of characters they've perfected on the small screen. Ray Romano, making his onscreen film debut (after a voice role in Ice Age), puts his tentative, low-voltage delivery to effective use in playing a regular guy -- but fans of Everybody Loves Raymond will find more laughs in his weekly series. Film vets Gene Hackman and Marcia Gay Harden lend whatever nuance they can muster, but there's only so much to be done with Schulman's broad-stroke comedy. When the votes are in, the Donald Petrie-helmed film will poll strongest among older audiences, but it won't secure a landslide for Fox.
Hackman plays the very presidentially named Monroe Eagle Cole, a Democrat fresh off two terms with approval ratings through the roof. A smooth operator with a self-deprecating facade, Monroe is essentially decent and driven by ego -- Hackman puts it all across with his customary naturalness. As the first commander-in-chief to be divorced while in office, he's facing tough alimony negotiations with his vindictive ex (Christine Baranski, in what feels like inevitable casting). With his entourage of Secret Service and staff, Monroe sets up camp at his sprawling summer estate in the laid-back burg of Mooseport, Maine.
Before he can choose among big-bucks offers for memoirs and speaking engagements, the village elders enlist him to fill the void left by their deceased mayor. But what was meant to be an unchallenged run for office turns into a close -- and closely watched -- race between the ex-president and a plumber.
The rivalry between Monroe and Handy Harrison (Romano) is less about issues than about jealousy and male posturing -- specifically for the affections of veterinarian Sally (Maura Tierney), Handy's girlfriend of six years. In a tired story line whose outcome is clear, she's increasingly frustrated with his refusal to pop the question and quickly says yes when Monroe asks her out.
Rip Torn, playing Monroe's campaign manager, arrives upon the scene like a much-needed tonic to the bland proceedings. In the film's best sequences, political strategy sessions focus on urgencies like whether the former president should cancel a date, and the broadcast media get mileage out of his rebuffed good-night kiss.
Those bright moments don't compensate for Petrie and Schulman's condescending view of ain't-they-wacky yokels. Costumer Vicki Graef and production designer David Chapman emphasize the cliched divide between the power elite's country chic and the plaid-flannel brigade's down-home clutter.
WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT
20th Century Fox
Mediastream IV/Intermedia
Credits:
Director: Donald Petrie
Screenwriter: Tom Schulman
Producers: Tom Schulman, Basil Iwanyk
Executive producers: Rory Rosegarten, David Coatsworth, Moritz Borman, Doug Richardson
Director of photography: Victor Hammer
Production designer: David Chapman
Music: John Debney
Costume designer: Vicki Graef
Editor: Debra Neil-Fisher
Cast:
Monroe Cole: Gene Hackman
Handy Harrison: Ray Romano
Grace Sutherland: Marcia Gay Harden
Sally Mannis: Maura Tierney
Charlotte Cole: Christine Baranski
Bullard: Fred Savage
Bert Langdon: Rip Torn
Irma: June Squibb
Morris: Wayne Robson
Martha: Jackie Richardson
Mandy: Reagan Pasternak
Reuben: Jim Feather
Harve: Ed Fielding
Running time -- 111 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Newmarket Films scored a blockbuster opening for Mel Gibson's much-anticipated The Passion of the Christ as the R-rated religious epic collected an estimated $76.2 million over its first Friday through Sunday weekend period, lifting its total to an estimated $117.5 million since its Wednesday opening. In 3,043 theaters that translates to a heavenly $25,041 average. The weekend's three other new wide releases were more Earth-bound. Paramount's Ashley Judd as woman-in-peril thriller Twisted debuted at No. 3 with an estimated $9.1 million. Lions Gate's Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights opened in fifth place with an estimated $5.9 million on its dance card. Fox Searchlight's Club Dread featuring the Broken Lizard comedy troupe opened at No. 10 with an estimated $3 million. Last weekend's top movie, Sony's Drew Barrymore-Adam Sandler romantic comedy 50 First Dates was runner-up this weekend with an estimated $12.6 million. Buena Vista's Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen was fourth with an estimated $6.1 million. The distributor's Miracle skated into sixth place with an estimated $4.4 million. DreamWorks' Eurotrip collected an estimated $4 million to take No. 7 for the weekend. Welcome to Mooseport from 20th Century Fox was eighth with an estimated $3.4 million. MGM's Barbershop 2: Back in Business took the No. 9 chair with an estimated $3.1 million. Final figures will be released Monday.
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.