According to novelist Louis de Bernières, Nicolas Cage endured a time of turmoil while filming “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.”
The 2001 war drama, directed by John Madden, was in production while Cage was mid-divorce from Patricia Arquette. Author de Bernières recalled feeling “sympathetic” for Cage on set.
“Nic Cage was going through a horrendous time,” de Bernières said during the Henley Literary Festival (via The Independent), citing Cage’s divorce. “I was totally sympathetic about that, but he had to fly back to California every week, and he was in a really bad way. He didn’t want to chat really.”
Cage played the titular Captain Corelli, who led the Italian invasion over Greek island Cephalonia. Corelli falls in love with a local doctor’s daughter (Penélope Cruz) despite the fact that she’s engaged to another man. When the Italian army surrenders to the Allies in World War II, Corelli...
The 2001 war drama, directed by John Madden, was in production while Cage was mid-divorce from Patricia Arquette. Author de Bernières recalled feeling “sympathetic” for Cage on set.
“Nic Cage was going through a horrendous time,” de Bernières said during the Henley Literary Festival (via The Independent), citing Cage’s divorce. “I was totally sympathetic about that, but he had to fly back to California every week, and he was in a really bad way. He didn’t want to chat really.”
Cage played the titular Captain Corelli, who led the Italian invasion over Greek island Cephalonia. Corelli falls in love with a local doctor’s daughter (Penélope Cruz) despite the fact that she’s engaged to another man. When the Italian army surrenders to the Allies in World War II, Corelli...
- 10/9/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Kenneth Branagh’s second Agatha Christie film Death on the Nile, did not have a smooth ride. Its release was delayed several times due to first Disney buying the studio that made the film, 20th Century Fox, and then the Covid pandemic, and its cast turned out to be a Pandora’s Box of, at best, bad PR and at worst, criminal allegations.
Back in 2020 then, when Branagh was filming his autobiographically inspired family drama, Belfast, a third Hercule Poirot film wasn’t necessarily a given. Though Agatha Christie’s estate and Branagh were keen to make further sequels to 2017 hit Murder on the Orient Express, the next Christie movie had yet to be greenlit.
That uncertainty inspired Branagh to tuck a Poirot Easter Egg into Belfast as “an offering to the gods,” as he told The Hollywood Reporter. “They can tell us, in the end, if we’ll be allowed to make it.
Back in 2020 then, when Branagh was filming his autobiographically inspired family drama, Belfast, a third Hercule Poirot film wasn’t necessarily a given. Though Agatha Christie’s estate and Branagh were keen to make further sequels to 2017 hit Murder on the Orient Express, the next Christie movie had yet to be greenlit.
That uncertainty inspired Branagh to tuck a Poirot Easter Egg into Belfast as “an offering to the gods,” as he told The Hollywood Reporter. “They can tell us, in the end, if we’ll be allowed to make it.
- 9/16/2023
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
As much as audiences love to see actors disappear into a role, Hugh Grant has become a beloved star largely for sticking to the genre fans know him best for. Although Grant admits he wishes he had made some different career decisions over the years, the actor has consistently seen success in the world of romantic comedies. And in a recent interview, Grant acknowledged an Easter egg from one of his most popular entries in the genre: 1999’s Notting Hill.
Hugh Grant doesn’t understand the appeal of his movies like ‘Notting Hill’ (L-r): Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in ‘Notting Hill’ | Getty Images
Despite working in the industry for several years by that point, Grant landed his breakthrough role opposite Andie MacDowell in 1994’s Four Weddings a Funeral. Over the next decade or so, Grant would headline several more hit romantic comedies, including films like Nine Months, Notting Hill,...
Hugh Grant doesn’t understand the appeal of his movies like ‘Notting Hill’ (L-r): Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in ‘Notting Hill’ | Getty Images
Despite working in the industry for several years by that point, Grant landed his breakthrough role opposite Andie MacDowell in 1994’s Four Weddings a Funeral. Over the next decade or so, Grant would headline several more hit romantic comedies, including films like Nine Months, Notting Hill,...
- 3/23/2023
- by Robert Yaniz Jr.
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Hugh Grant seems to have no problem revealing his candid thoughts, no matter how offensive they may be to others.
In his latest remarks, the British actor recalled making fun of his former co-star Drew Barrymore’s singing while working on their film “Music & Lyrics”.
“I’m auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as some,” Grant, 62, recently told Wired in an interview while recounting his singing in the 2007 rom-com.
“Drew Barrymore was in that film with me and I don’t think she’d mind me saying her singing is just horrendous,” he confessed. “I’ve heard dogs bark better than she sings.”
Read More: Hugh Grant Compares Himself To A ‘Scrotum’ At The 2023 Oscars
The “Love Actually” star then noted that after “they tuned her up,” Barrymore “sounded way better than me because she’s got heart and voice and rock ‘n’ roll.”
His remarks come after he recently went viral,...
In his latest remarks, the British actor recalled making fun of his former co-star Drew Barrymore’s singing while working on their film “Music & Lyrics”.
“I’m auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as some,” Grant, 62, recently told Wired in an interview while recounting his singing in the 2007 rom-com.
“Drew Barrymore was in that film with me and I don’t think she’d mind me saying her singing is just horrendous,” he confessed. “I’ve heard dogs bark better than she sings.”
Read More: Hugh Grant Compares Himself To A ‘Scrotum’ At The 2023 Oscars
The “Love Actually” star then noted that after “they tuned her up,” Barrymore “sounded way better than me because she’s got heart and voice and rock ‘n’ roll.”
His remarks come after he recently went viral,...
- 3/16/2023
- by Melissa Romualdi
- ET Canada
Hugh Grant has picked the hill he wants to die on: A “Notting Hill” Easter egg, to be exact.
The deadpan actor revealed during a Wired video alongside “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” co-stars Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez that he found the ending of 1999 rom-com “Notting Hill” to be “nauseating” due to a small detail director Roger Michell included.
“Notting Hill,” which has been considered by many a rom-com classic over the years, stars Julia Roberts as Anna Scott, a famous actress who falls for local British bookstore owner William Thacker (Grant) while filming on location. The final scene shows Anna cuddling with William on a park bench as he reads a novel, one that had a special meaning to late director Michell.
“In that nauseating moment on the bench at the end, I’m reading ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ by Louis de Bernières, which was going to be his next film,...
The deadpan actor revealed during a Wired video alongside “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” co-stars Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez that he found the ending of 1999 rom-com “Notting Hill” to be “nauseating” due to a small detail director Roger Michell included.
“Notting Hill,” which has been considered by many a rom-com classic over the years, stars Julia Roberts as Anna Scott, a famous actress who falls for local British bookstore owner William Thacker (Grant) while filming on location. The final scene shows Anna cuddling with William on a park bench as he reads a novel, one that had a special meaning to late director Michell.
“In that nauseating moment on the bench at the end, I’m reading ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ by Louis de Bernières, which was going to be his next film,...
- 3/16/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Hugh Grant has divulged a subtle “in-joke” hidden away in the “nauseating” final scene of Notting Hill.
The British actor appeared in the 1999 romcom as bookshop owner William Thacker alongside Julia Roberts, who played Hollywood film star Anna Scott.
In the film’s closing moments, William and Anna can be seen cosied up together on a park bench, with Grant’s character reading a book.
In a new interview with Wired, Grant was asked if he remembered what book he was reading in the scene.
The actor, who referred to the scene as “nauseating”, not only remembered, but revealed how it was an in-joke placed there by director Roger Michell, who died in 2021.
“In that nauseating moment on the bench at the end, I’m reading Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières, which was going to be his next film,” Grant said, adding: “So it’s a little in-joke from Roger Michell,...
The British actor appeared in the 1999 romcom as bookshop owner William Thacker alongside Julia Roberts, who played Hollywood film star Anna Scott.
In the film’s closing moments, William and Anna can be seen cosied up together on a park bench, with Grant’s character reading a book.
In a new interview with Wired, Grant was asked if he remembered what book he was reading in the scene.
The actor, who referred to the scene as “nauseating”, not only remembered, but revealed how it was an in-joke placed there by director Roger Michell, who died in 2021.
“In that nauseating moment on the bench at the end, I’m reading Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières, which was going to be his next film,” Grant said, adding: “So it’s a little in-joke from Roger Michell,...
- 3/15/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - Film
Hugh Grant has mocked Drew Barrymore’s singing in the romantic comedy Music & Lyrics.
The actor co-starred with Barrymore in the 2007 film as washed-up pop star Alex Fletcher, who is hired to write a chart-topping hit for an aspiring teen singe (Haley Bennett).
Barrymore plays Sophie Fisher, the songwriter that Grant’s character is teamed up with. During the film, they regularly sing the songs they’re writing, which Grant said required auto-tuning.
Speaking to Wired for a segment in which he answered “the web’s most-searched questions”, Grant was asked: “Does Hugh Grant actually sing in Music & Lyrics?”
He replied: “Yes, well I do, but I’m auto-tuned beyond belief.
“Actually, that's not true – I'm auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as some,” he continued, stating: “Drew Barrymore was in that film with me and I don't think she'd mind me saying her singing is just horrendous.
The actor co-starred with Barrymore in the 2007 film as washed-up pop star Alex Fletcher, who is hired to write a chart-topping hit for an aspiring teen singe (Haley Bennett).
Barrymore plays Sophie Fisher, the songwriter that Grant’s character is teamed up with. During the film, they regularly sing the songs they’re writing, which Grant said required auto-tuning.
Speaking to Wired for a segment in which he answered “the web’s most-searched questions”, Grant was asked: “Does Hugh Grant actually sing in Music & Lyrics?”
He replied: “Yes, well I do, but I’m auto-tuned beyond belief.
“Actually, that's not true – I'm auto-tuned a bit, but not as much as some,” he continued, stating: “Drew Barrymore was in that film with me and I don't think she'd mind me saying her singing is just horrendous.
- 3/14/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - Film
At Screen Australia's Family Film Forum in Sydney last month, director Kriv Stenders and Roadshow's head of production Seph McKenna talked the development of Red Dog and the opportunity presented by its sequel, Red Dog: True Blue, premiering Boxing Day.
In the video above, Stenders talks about the original conception of the first film - a $30 million feature starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman - and his desire to make something akin to "an Australian Amarcord".
McKenna discusses how the original book by Louis de Bernières on which the film was based wasn't big enough, commercially speaking, to impact Roadshow's decision to greenlight the film, and how surprised Roadshow was that.Red Dog played so well to all four quadrants..
During the panel at Sydney's Uts, Stenders also previewed the upcoming sequel, and said that it was a standalone film that people could see and enjoy without having seen the first film.
In the video above, Stenders talks about the original conception of the first film - a $30 million feature starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman - and his desire to make something akin to "an Australian Amarcord".
McKenna discusses how the original book by Louis de Bernières on which the film was based wasn't big enough, commercially speaking, to impact Roadshow's decision to greenlight the film, and how surprised Roadshow was that.Red Dog played so well to all four quadrants..
During the panel at Sydney's Uts, Stenders also previewed the upcoming sequel, and said that it was a standalone film that people could see and enjoy without having seen the first film.
- 4/18/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
As Nicolas Cage returns to Oscar-worthy form in David Gordon Green's extraordinary Southern Gothic drama Joe, we celebrate some of the strangest roles he's essayed along the way, from insect-munching Manhattanite to bee-wrangling bear impersonator. It's not always pretty, but it's never boring...
Vampire's Kiss (1988)
After he was a leading man, but before he was a very good one, Cage played that 1980s stalwart – the Yuppy Dick – in this off-kilter black comedy. Enunciating in an inexplicably anglicised drawl, like Loyd Grossman shouting through a tube, his character Peter Loew confides to his therapist: "I brought this girl up to my place, really hot, you knooooooow... Suddenly, this bat comes sweeping down out of noooowhere. I'll be daaaaamned if I didn't get really turned on!"
From here things only get stranger, with Loew exhibiting all the usual signs of vampirism: cringing at the sign of crosses/mirrors, shouting the alphabet...
Vampire's Kiss (1988)
After he was a leading man, but before he was a very good one, Cage played that 1980s stalwart – the Yuppy Dick – in this off-kilter black comedy. Enunciating in an inexplicably anglicised drawl, like Loyd Grossman shouting through a tube, his character Peter Loew confides to his therapist: "I brought this girl up to my place, really hot, you knooooooow... Suddenly, this bat comes sweeping down out of noooowhere. I'll be daaaaamned if I didn't get really turned on!"
From here things only get stranger, with Loew exhibiting all the usual signs of vampirism: cringing at the sign of crosses/mirrors, shouting the alphabet...
- 7/22/2014
- Digital Spy
Arc Entertainment has acquired all North American rights to “Red Dog,” starring Josh Lucas. The family film, directed by Kriv Stenders, has become the eighth-highest-grossing film in Australia since its release in August 2011. Based on a true story and adapted from the Louis de Bernières novel, “Red Dog” follows the adventures of a dog that wandered the Western Australian outback in the 1970s, living briefly with various people before settling down with Lucas’s character. Rachael Taylor also stars, and Woss Group Film Productions (“Ned Kelly”) produced. “‘Red Dog’ is a special film,” said Arc Entertainment CEO Trevor Drinkwater. “It is uniquely entertaining and will make you laugh, cry and fall in love with the characters. We are looking forward to making it a success in the Us off the heels of the impressive Australian release.” Arc’s Rich Goldberg and Peter Jarowey negotiated...
- 5/31/2012
- by Jay A. Fernandez
- Indiewire
Box office hit Red Dog is to get a North American, multi-platform release, which will include DVD sales through the world’s biggest retailer.
Following theatrical distribution in other territories, Us-based Arc Entertainment has acquired the film to distribute it theatrically, and on VOD and DVD, which will include being on sale in Walmart stores.
Nelson Woss, Red Dog’s producer, told Encore: “There’s an unique deal with Arc in which one of the elements of the deal will see the film promoted as one of Walmart’s DVDs of the month.”
The deal follows the film’s success locally on DVD. In Australia, the film is the biggest selling local release on DVD and third overall behind Avatar and Finding Nemo, selling units in the high six figures, Woss said.
Theatrically, the film will be in limited release, but take a similar marketing strategy to the film’s release here.
Following theatrical distribution in other territories, Us-based Arc Entertainment has acquired the film to distribute it theatrically, and on VOD and DVD, which will include being on sale in Walmart stores.
Nelson Woss, Red Dog’s producer, told Encore: “There’s an unique deal with Arc in which one of the elements of the deal will see the film promoted as one of Walmart’s DVDs of the month.”
The deal follows the film’s success locally on DVD. In Australia, the film is the biggest selling local release on DVD and third overall behind Avatar and Finding Nemo, selling units in the high six figures, Woss said.
Theatrically, the film will be in limited release, but take a similar marketing strategy to the film’s release here.
- 5/30/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Omnilab-financed action film Killer Elite continued its soft run at the local box office over the weekend, taking just $140,774 from 102 screens. This is a 50 per cent slip on its opening weekend . a typical second-week box office drop.
The film has grossed $526,008 in total, however it was made on a $80 million budget and stars icon Robert De Niro and British actors Clive Owen and Jason Statham.
Based on Sir Ranulph Fiennes' non-fiction novel The Feather Men, the film was shot in cities including Melbourne, Paris and London. It also had a disappointing run in North America, grossing just $US25 million last year, according to Box Office Mojo.
Also in the Us, Snowtown (known across the Pacific as The Snowtown Murders) opened on just one screen over the weekend, however box office figures aren.t yet available. New Zealand hit film Boy also opened in North America . it grossed $US23,400 on two screens.
The film has grossed $526,008 in total, however it was made on a $80 million budget and stars icon Robert De Niro and British actors Clive Owen and Jason Statham.
Based on Sir Ranulph Fiennes' non-fiction novel The Feather Men, the film was shot in cities including Melbourne, Paris and London. It also had a disappointing run in North America, grossing just $US25 million last year, according to Box Office Mojo.
Also in the Us, Snowtown (known across the Pacific as The Snowtown Murders) opened on just one screen over the weekend, however box office figures aren.t yet available. New Zealand hit film Boy also opened in North America . it grossed $US23,400 on two screens.
- 3/5/2012
- by Sam Dallas
- IF.com.au
A Deborah Moggach book caught on film leads to Tulip Fever, and Ozwald Boateng makes a bid to dress Bond
Brought to book
In a brief scene in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Penelope Wilton is pictured relaxing in the garden of the eponymous Indian hotel reading a book. A quick shot reveals it's the novel Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach, who also happened to write These Foolish Things, upon which Ol Parker based the screenplay to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It's a sweet in-joke and recalls the one at the end of Notting Hill, where Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are reposing on a garden bench and she's reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin. This was, at the time, a nod to Notting Hill director Roger Michell's proposed next film – he was slated to direct the Louis de Bernières bestseller. However, illness meant Michell had to drop out and...
Brought to book
In a brief scene in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Penelope Wilton is pictured relaxing in the garden of the eponymous Indian hotel reading a book. A quick shot reveals it's the novel Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach, who also happened to write These Foolish Things, upon which Ol Parker based the screenplay to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It's a sweet in-joke and recalls the one at the end of Notting Hill, where Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are reposing on a garden bench and she's reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin. This was, at the time, a nod to Notting Hill director Roger Michell's proposed next film – he was slated to direct the Louis de Bernières bestseller. However, illness meant Michell had to drop out and...
- 2/26/2012
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Based on a novel by Louis de Bernières which in turn was inspired by a real incident, Red Dog is the most popular Australian movie of the past year. Told in flashback as the eponymous pooch lies sick in the back room of a remote pub in Western Australia, a variety of tough guys relate how the Red Dog became a local legend around the remote coastal town of Dampier and brought together a community of lonely working men. Red Dog is played in the film by an Australian breed of sheepdog known as a red cloud kelpie, and there's now a bronze statue of him in the area. The film gathers incidents from every dog movie you ever saw, from Rescued by Rover and Rin Tin Tin to Greyfriars Bobby and Lassie Come Home. It's guaranteed to bring tears and laughter to popular audiences, and those who turn up...
- 2/26/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
The real world has been PG-ified in this well-meaning tale of a dog's adventures in a Western Australian mining community
Is it a children's story for adults? Or an adult's story for children? Well, it's a doggy story for humans, anyway: an avowedly true-life tale that comes across like a well-meaning PG-certification of the real world. Red Dog is a Greyfriars-Bobby-type story from a remote mining community in Western Australia: the dog in question went on a legendary, heartrending quest to find his master who had died in an accident – the dog was said to have journeyed thousands of miles before coming home, and was the subject of a 2001 novel by Louis de Bernières on which this film is based. Josh Lucas plays John Grant, an American who adopts Red Dog; Noah Taylor plays Jack Collins, the local barkeep, and there is a gallery of tough mine-workers who turn out to have hearts of gold.
Is it a children's story for adults? Or an adult's story for children? Well, it's a doggy story for humans, anyway: an avowedly true-life tale that comes across like a well-meaning PG-certification of the real world. Red Dog is a Greyfriars-Bobby-type story from a remote mining community in Western Australia: the dog in question went on a legendary, heartrending quest to find his master who had died in an accident – the dog was said to have journeyed thousands of miles before coming home, and was the subject of a 2001 novel by Louis de Bernières on which this film is based. Josh Lucas plays John Grant, an American who adopts Red Dog; Noah Taylor plays Jack Collins, the local barkeep, and there is a gallery of tough mine-workers who turn out to have hearts of gold.
- 2/24/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
A box-office hit in its native Australia, Red Dog is the tale of the legendary pooch who embodied the country's outback spirit – and has a made a star of its canine lead, Koko
Australia's hottest movie star fixes me with his soulful brown eyes and greets me with a firm lick on the hand. Then, with a clack-clack of claws on the wooden floor of his airy home, Koko shows me through to the kitchen. For the next 20 minutes, the six-year-old star of Red Dog embarks on an impressive charm offensive, gazing up charismatically and fixing a gimlet eye on the bowl of cashew nuts placed before us.
Koko, a red cloud kelpie, has been the surprise breakout talent of 2011 in Australia. The underdog project to adapt Louis de Bernières's book about a real dog that breathed life into a desolate mining town, took $21.3m (£13.4m) at the Australian box office last year,...
Australia's hottest movie star fixes me with his soulful brown eyes and greets me with a firm lick on the hand. Then, with a clack-clack of claws on the wooden floor of his airy home, Koko shows me through to the kitchen. For the next 20 minutes, the six-year-old star of Red Dog embarks on an impressive charm offensive, gazing up charismatically and fixing a gimlet eye on the bowl of cashew nuts placed before us.
Koko, a red cloud kelpie, has been the surprise breakout talent of 2011 in Australia. The underdog project to adapt Louis de Bernières's book about a real dog that breathed life into a desolate mining town, took $21.3m (£13.4m) at the Australian box office last year,...
- 2/10/2012
- by Patrick Barkham
- The Guardian - Film News
In case you were wondering, Uggie is not the only canine in town. Red Dog's Koko could be the next pup to get the big trailer and giant T-bone treatment. The Kelpie crossbreed is the true-life star of the Australian family drama that's been adapted from the pages of Louis de Bernières' novella, and having won the hearts of Aussie filmgoers, he's heading this way with tail'a'waggling.Red Dog was a legend in the Pilbara region of West Australia during the 1970s, especially the town of Dampier. Loyal and much loved by the locals, he was even given his own bank account, although how he used the Atm is anyone's guess. In this clip from the film, Josh Lucas, last seen as J. Edgar's Charles Lindbergh, proves that beneath that growly exterior lies a big old softy. He witnesses Red Dog being exploited for sport and isn't...
- 2/6/2012
- EmpireOnline
Director Kriv Stenders Australian produced family feature "Red Dog" recently passed the $20 million mark at the Australian box office.
Adapted by screenwriter Daniel Taplitz, from "Red Dog", the best-selling novel by author Louis De Bernières ("Captain Corelli's Mandolin") the film follows the true story of 'Red Dog', a nomadic Australian sheep dog, found roaming the outback in search of his master, before returning to a mining town to inspire the locals :
"...in West Australia during the early 1970's, 'Thomas' (Luke Ford) walks into a bar where the locals are looking after a sick dog. He is told by 'Jack' (Noah Taylor) that this is no ordinary dog, but the great 'Red Dog' (played by Koko).
"Jack tells his story about how he first met Red. Then a man named 'Vanno' (Arthur Angel) shares how he became acquainted with the dog. The men recall how Red Dog...
Adapted by screenwriter Daniel Taplitz, from "Red Dog", the best-selling novel by author Louis De Bernières ("Captain Corelli's Mandolin") the film follows the true story of 'Red Dog', a nomadic Australian sheep dog, found roaming the outback in search of his master, before returning to a mining town to inspire the locals :
"...in West Australia during the early 1970's, 'Thomas' (Luke Ford) walks into a bar where the locals are looking after a sick dog. He is told by 'Jack' (Noah Taylor) that this is no ordinary dog, but the great 'Red Dog' (played by Koko).
"Jack tells his story about how he first met Red. Then a man named 'Vanno' (Arthur Angel) shares how he became acquainted with the dog. The men recall how Red Dog...
- 10/23/2011
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Directed by Kriv Stenders and adapted by Daniel Taplitz, from the best-selling novel by award-winning author Louis De Bernières (Captain Corelli's Mandolin) the film tells the true story of Koko, the titular canine. Found roaming the outback in search of his master, he returns to a disparate mining town and reinspires the local residents. Currently in the USA, at the Heartland International Film Festival, Red Dog producer Nelson Woss said, "The film has now clearly shown its box office potential in Australia and the team behind it are working hard to translate this local momentum into international box office success.
- 10/17/2011
- FilmInk.com.au
Australians have been lapping up a homegrown film adaptation of Louis de Bernières's dog tale. But, like Muriel's Wedding, can Red Dog succeed abroad?
"Love, and a bit with a dog. That's what they want." That, in Shakespeare in Love's eyes, was the infallible formula for popular success, as Australia has recently been finding out. A kelpie/cattle-dog cross has made big eyes at everyone and become the star of 2011's homegrown box-office sensation, Red Dog. Based on the Louis de Bernières novella and chronicling the real-life travels of a much-loved pooch through western Australia's Pilbara region in the 1970s, the film opened strongly on 11 August and continued building an audience on successive weekends. A four-legged fable has become a four-quadrant phenomenon: at the time of writing, it's taken A$13.7m ($14.4m), and was on the scent of the top 10 highest-grossing Australian films ever.
No one likes to kick a dog,...
"Love, and a bit with a dog. That's what they want." That, in Shakespeare in Love's eyes, was the infallible formula for popular success, as Australia has recently been finding out. A kelpie/cattle-dog cross has made big eyes at everyone and become the star of 2011's homegrown box-office sensation, Red Dog. Based on the Louis de Bernières novella and chronicling the real-life travels of a much-loved pooch through western Australia's Pilbara region in the 1970s, the film opened strongly on 11 August and continued building an audience on successive weekends. A four-legged fable has become a four-quadrant phenomenon: at the time of writing, it's taken A$13.7m ($14.4m), and was on the scent of the top 10 highest-grossing Australian films ever.
No one likes to kick a dog,...
- 9/20/2011
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
The nothing-is-sacred humour of the Australian bush comes naturally to this London Australian film festival opener
Being from Perth, I've heard stories about the legend of Red Dog since my youth. A stray Kelpie cross who wound up in the newly established mining town of Dampier, western Australia, sometime in the early 70s, he became such a friend to the locals that a statue of him now greets all visitors to Dampier.
It was a sighting of this statue, the town's sole monument, that led Louis de Bernières to turn his tale into a book, an adaptation of which kicked off this year's London Australian film festival at the Barbican – I saw a screening introduced by Nelson Woss (the producer, and proud owner of leading dog, Koko).
How much of the resulting movie is embellishment is up for debate. But in the tradition of films such as semi-fictionalised The Castle,...
Being from Perth, I've heard stories about the legend of Red Dog since my youth. A stray Kelpie cross who wound up in the newly established mining town of Dampier, western Australia, sometime in the early 70s, he became such a friend to the locals that a statue of him now greets all visitors to Dampier.
It was a sighting of this statue, the town's sole monument, that led Louis de Bernières to turn his tale into a book, an adaptation of which kicked off this year's London Australian film festival at the Barbican – I saw a screening introduced by Nelson Woss (the producer, and proud owner of leading dog, Koko).
How much of the resulting movie is embellishment is up for debate. But in the tradition of films such as semi-fictionalised The Castle,...
- 5/10/2011
- by Giles Anderton
- The Guardian - Film News
Prom
Opens: April 29th 2011
Cast: Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell, Danielle Campbell, Yin Chang
Director: Joe Nussbaum
Summary: Portrays the precarious passage from high school to independence as some relationships unravel and others ignite. For Nova Prescott, it’s a battle of wills as she finds herself drawn to the guy who gets in the way of her perfect prom. Others face all the insecurity and anticipation that surrounds one of high school’s most seminal events.
Analysis: Disney's attempt at creating the next "High School Musical" franchise for itself, this teen romantic comedy is a batch of clique cliches - the beauty queen, the rebel with better hair than anyone else in the film, the handsome yet dumb foreign exchange student, the 'so above it' geek who really wants to belong, and at least one or two 'fugly' girls.
It's all very "The Breakfast Club" meets "10 Things I Hate About...
Opens: April 29th 2011
Cast: Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell, Danielle Campbell, Yin Chang
Director: Joe Nussbaum
Summary: Portrays the precarious passage from high school to independence as some relationships unravel and others ignite. For Nova Prescott, it’s a battle of wills as she finds herself drawn to the guy who gets in the way of her perfect prom. Others face all the insecurity and anticipation that surrounds one of high school’s most seminal events.
Analysis: Disney's attempt at creating the next "High School Musical" franchise for itself, this teen romantic comedy is a batch of clique cliches - the beauty queen, the rebel with better hair than anyone else in the film, the handsome yet dumb foreign exchange student, the 'so above it' geek who really wants to belong, and at least one or two 'fugly' girls.
It's all very "The Breakfast Club" meets "10 Things I Hate About...
- 2/24/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Three of Europe's most prestigious film festivals, Berlin, Rotterdam and Clermont-Ferrand, will feature an impressive selection of Australian films in their line-ups this year. One of the most highly regarded film festivals in the world, the Berlin International Film Festival will screen two Australian feature films and three short films in the Generation program, which presents lively cinema aimed at young audiences. Australian filmmaker Rachel Perkins (Bran Nue Dae) has also been invited to be an international jury member of the Berlinale's Generation section. The festival will present the world premiere of Kriv Stenders's Red Dog, the film adaptation of Louis de Bernières' best-selling novel about a spirited kelpie that unites and changes the lives of a group of locals from a mining town.
- 1/21/2011
- FilmInk.com.au
Back on a roll following Kick-Ass and now Bad Lieutenant, few actors have had as many ups and downs as Nicolas Cage. 'People who do the wrong thing win,' he tells Damon Wise
Until recently, things weren't looking so good for Nicolas Cage. In the 90s he transformed from a geeky, twitchy presence in soft dramas like Moonstruck and Peggy Sue Got Married into the oddest action hero of all time. Unlike Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Cage was a true livewire, a psychotic, tender presence who could kick ass even while being a doting father; who could forget him brawling to the death for the sake of his son's soft toy in 1997's Con Air ("Put the bunny back in the box!"). Cage was something mainstream moviegoers and indie mavens could agree on, a soldier for hire who could be put to service by David Lynch in one of his dark,...
Until recently, things weren't looking so good for Nicolas Cage. In the 90s he transformed from a geeky, twitchy presence in soft dramas like Moonstruck and Peggy Sue Got Married into the oddest action hero of all time. Unlike Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Cage was a true livewire, a psychotic, tender presence who could kick ass even while being a doting father; who could forget him brawling to the death for the sake of his son's soft toy in 1997's Con Air ("Put the bunny back in the box!"). Cage was something mainstream moviegoers and indie mavens could agree on, a soldier for hire who could be put to service by David Lynch in one of his dark,...
- 5/17/2010
- by Damon Wise
- The Guardian - Film News
The Australian production Red Dog , directed by Kriv Stenders, has its leading man as Josh Lucas will star in the story of an Austalian kelpie dog that unites a mining community in the '70s and '80s. Produced by Nelson Woss and Julie Ryan, and adapted from the Louis De Bernières novel by Daniel Taplitz, the movie is scheduled to film for nine weeks in Southern and Western Australia with the cast including Rachael Taylor, Noah Taylor, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Luke Ford with the canine Koko playing the lead role opposite Lucas. Roadshow Films is planning the movie for a 2011 release.
- 4/30/2010
- Comingsoon.net
Like his characters, Robert Harris has often found himself close to news in the making. As his 'Tony Blair' novel hits the cinema, he reveals why his friendship with Roman Polanski has lasted, but his affair with New Labour has not
Tony Blair is not on record as having read Robert Harris's 2007 novel The Ghost, a rip-snorting thriller about an ostentatiously groovy ex-prime minister accused of war crimes after secretly approving the transfer of British al-Qaida suspects to Guantánamo Bay, and the ghostwriter hired to write his memoirs. Perhaps Blair got the book out on John Prescott's library card, or happened upon a copy in Silvio Berlusconi's downstairs loo. All that really matters is that he knows of the novel's existence. It was in regard to The Ghost, after all, that he described its author as "a cheeky fuck". The 53-year-old Harris chuckles so warmly...
Tony Blair is not on record as having read Robert Harris's 2007 novel The Ghost, a rip-snorting thriller about an ostentatiously groovy ex-prime minister accused of war crimes after secretly approving the transfer of British al-Qaida suspects to Guantánamo Bay, and the ghostwriter hired to write his memoirs. Perhaps Blair got the book out on John Prescott's library card, or happened upon a copy in Silvio Berlusconi's downstairs loo. All that really matters is that he knows of the novel's existence. It was in regard to The Ghost, after all, that he described its author as "a cheeky fuck". The 53-year-old Harris chuckles so warmly...
- 4/4/2010
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Screen Australia has this week announced the lucky recipients of their latest round of funding. The exciting new feature Red Dog was among one of the films to receive some of the organisation's $12.5 million bounty, bringing its touching story to the screen for the first time. Louis de Bernières' tale of a dog that manages to unite distant outback communities has been in development with Roadshow Films and producer Nelson Woss for a significant time.
- 8/6/2009
- FilmInk.com.au
Captain Corelli's Mandolin star John Hurt knows why the film flopped - he blames the casting of Nicolas Cage. Hurt believes powerful movie studio bosses destroyed the big screen version of the Louis de Bernieres best-seller. He says, "We got slaughtered in America. The audiences somehow wouldn't forgive Nic Cage. I mean, he did his very best, and if he was wrong for the part, it's not his fault. It's entirely to do with the studio, who shot themselves in the foot by saying 'Here's $45 million to make the film once you get Nic Cage.' And you'd say 'Well that's fine, but can I still have the $45 million and get someone who's right for the part?' It's not like this is something new. It's been going on in the film industry for years. But nobody seems to learn. It's a shame. Nic's part was written for someone who sweeps her off her feet. Nic is a lovely actor in many ways, but he's not that sort of actor."...
- 9/3/2001
- WENN
Spanish actress Penelope Cruz fell in love with her part in Captain Corelli's Mandolin. In the film, based on the bestselling book by Louis De Bernieres, Cruz plays a Greek girl wooed by an Italian army officer on the Greek island of Cephallonia during the Second World War (1939- 1945). The film had its world premiere in London's Leicester Square Thursday night in a benefit for the Red Cross. Cruz, who starred alongside Nicolas Cage, wore a black Ralph Lauren dress and clutched a lacy black shawl as she arrived. She said she fell in love with the script the minute she read it. "I was so happy when I found out that I had got the part because I loved the character so much." Cruz is one of Hollywood's hottest properties at the moment, having recently starred alongside Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky. There had been reports of a relationship between the pair which brought about the end of Cruise's marriage to Nicole Kidman. The actress dismissed any such suggestions. "I have been hearing gossip and lies since I began working when I was 17, " she said. "I used to get very angry but I am not the only one who is going through that."...
- 4/20/2001
- WENN
Christian Bale is an actor not to mess with having been trained in the tactics of killing on the set of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Bale, who plays Greek fisherman Mandras in director John Madden's adaptation of Louis de Bernieres's best-selling novel, says, to get into character, he spent much of his time on the Greek island of Cephallonia where they filmed, training with the British army. He says, "I would learn how to ambush a convoy of military vehicles. I learned how best to slit somebody's throat and steal their boots quickly and disappear." And far from balking at the nature of the training, Bale admits he actually found the experience enjoyable. He says, "It's nice on movies when you have to train like that."...
- 4/2/2001
- WENN
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