Above: 1980 Japanese poster for Apocalypse Now. Design by Eiko Ishioka, artwork by Haruo Takino.With Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestated Megalopolis having premiered yesterday at Cannes, it's a good time to look back at the posters from his 60-year-long career. The only problem is that many posters for his films are either too well known or nothing to write home about. Like Coppola’s career itself, there are peaks and valleys—one of my very first posts for Notebook, almost exactly fifteen years ago, was about the gorgeous design for The Rain People (1969)—but a career retrospective of his posters seems like it might result in less than the sum of its parts. Yet of all his posters there are three rare Japanese designs that have always stood out as utterly extraordinary: two for Apocalypse Now (1979) and one for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).I’ve always seen these posters attributed to Eiko Ishioka,...
- 5/17/2024
- MUBI
"Star Wars" has one of the biggest worlds in fiction, a vast universe with extensive mythology, a sense of history, locations that feel tangible, and characters that come across as real, living beings.
This last bit is important, because "Star Wars" has given plenty of memorable characters, where even small players can turn out to have galaxy-changing importance. Then there are the villains, of which "Star Wars" has plenty, including some of the most memorable villains in cinema history, with their own stories worth exploring.
But while we all know the menacing man-turned-machine Darth Vader or the devil-looking Maul, are they really the worst villains in the franchise? As "Star Wars" has evolved and grown over the years, its villains have become less flashy and more, well, evil. That's why we're ranking the most evil and villainous characters in George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. As a note, this list...
This last bit is important, because "Star Wars" has given plenty of memorable characters, where even small players can turn out to have galaxy-changing importance. Then there are the villains, of which "Star Wars" has plenty, including some of the most memorable villains in cinema history, with their own stories worth exploring.
But while we all know the menacing man-turned-machine Darth Vader or the devil-looking Maul, are they really the worst villains in the franchise? As "Star Wars" has evolved and grown over the years, its villains have become less flashy and more, well, evil. That's why we're ranking the most evil and villainous characters in George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. As a note, this list...
- 5/12/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
Every Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Character, Ranked By How Much You Want To Hang Out With Them
Apes not kill apes ... and humans not spoil humans. Be warned: This article contains comprehensive spoilers for "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes."
If I were living on a planet of the apes after a man-made virus wiped out the majority of humankind and left our simian overlords in charge, I would simply try to get along with everybody. Seriously, I'd like to know why nobody has ever thought of that before in the entirety of the "Planet of the Apes" franchise. The sociopathic Koba is itching to duel-wield machine guns from horseback? Just give the poor ape a Snickers! Woody Harrelson's up to no good as the military leader of a cult-like group of soldiers, clinging to the last vestiges of power they have left? Honestly, Caesar, maybe consider the possibility that even Colonel Kurtz had his good days and bad days before going full "Moses leading...
If I were living on a planet of the apes after a man-made virus wiped out the majority of humankind and left our simian overlords in charge, I would simply try to get along with everybody. Seriously, I'd like to know why nobody has ever thought of that before in the entirety of the "Planet of the Apes" franchise. The sociopathic Koba is itching to duel-wield machine guns from horseback? Just give the poor ape a Snickers! Woody Harrelson's up to no good as the military leader of a cult-like group of soldiers, clinging to the last vestiges of power they have left? Honestly, Caesar, maybe consider the possibility that even Colonel Kurtz had his good days and bad days before going full "Moses leading...
- 5/11/2024
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
Seldom have actors in the history of Tinseltown left as much of an enduring legacy as Marlon Brando. The late actor’s legacy can still be felt in the film industry, thanks to his iconic roles in flicks like The Godfather and A Streetcar Named Desire. But one of his most elusive and challenging roles was in Francis Coppola’s 1979 epic war movie, Apocalypse Now.
Did we mention that this was the role that paved the way for one of the most enduring villains in recent superhero cinema?
Marlon Brando in The Godfather (Image credit: Paramount Pictures)
Josh Brolin brought Thanos to life in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in a way that had never been seen before in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And according to the actor himself, his inspiration came from Brando’s portrayal in Apocalypse Now.
After all, Brando pushed the envelope with his portrayal of rebellious military officer Colonel Kurtz.
Did we mention that this was the role that paved the way for one of the most enduring villains in recent superhero cinema?
Marlon Brando in The Godfather (Image credit: Paramount Pictures)
Josh Brolin brought Thanos to life in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in a way that had never been seen before in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And according to the actor himself, his inspiration came from Brando’s portrayal in Apocalypse Now.
After all, Brando pushed the envelope with his portrayal of rebellious military officer Colonel Kurtz.
- 5/2/2024
- by Siddhika Prajapati
- FandomWire
Known for helming some of the most iconic figures in cinematic history, even two decades after his death, Marlon Brando is considered one of the greatest and most influential actors ever. And two of the actor’s most iconic performances were a result of his collaborations with Francis Ford Coppola in The Godfather and Apocalypse Now.
But while playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather, instead of taking the traditional method of memorizing lines, Brando opted to read from cue cards and later clarified his reasoning behind it.
Marlon Brando Deemed Naturalism the Reason Behind Using Cue Cards The Godfather (1972 )
Instead of working on memorizing his lines, Marlon Brando would often read his lines from cue cards, which were often stuck on other actors when their backs were facing the camera. While many held his laziness responsible, some took the film’s chaotic production and constant rewrites into consideration, which might...
But while playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather, instead of taking the traditional method of memorizing lines, Brando opted to read from cue cards and later clarified his reasoning behind it.
Marlon Brando Deemed Naturalism the Reason Behind Using Cue Cards The Godfather (1972 )
Instead of working on memorizing his lines, Marlon Brando would often read his lines from cue cards, which were often stuck on other actors when their backs were facing the camera. While many held his laziness responsible, some took the film’s chaotic production and constant rewrites into consideration, which might...
- 3/16/2024
- by Santanu Roy
- FandomWire
While recently scrolling Twitter, an interesting anecdote came to my attention. In the fabled George Lucas outline for a Star Wars sequel trilogy, a treatment which the filmmaker shared with the Walt Disney Company when he sold Lucasfilm for $4 billion, Lucas apparently had a strange vision for Luke Skywalker: He wanted the older version of Skywalker to be like a character in a movie Lucas almost made before Star Wars. He wanted him to be, in essence, Marlon Brando’s Col. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now, right down to the bald head and rambling gibberish.
This detail is not new. In fact, Pablo Hidalgo first confirmed the information in Star Wars: Fascinating Facts (2020). In that book (via Total Film/GamesRadar+), Hidalgo wrote, “Although Luke Skywalker only barely appears in The Force Awakens, the concept artists had a lot to imagine based on the fragments of the story they were hearing as it developed.
This detail is not new. In fact, Pablo Hidalgo first confirmed the information in Star Wars: Fascinating Facts (2020). In that book (via Total Film/GamesRadar+), Hidalgo wrote, “Although Luke Skywalker only barely appears in The Force Awakens, the concept artists had a lot to imagine based on the fragments of the story they were hearing as it developed.
- 1/24/2024
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
“Lawmen: Bass Reeves” just wrapped on Paramount+. And while the streamer has yet to announce whether it will be coming back for another season, the show’s creator Chad Feehan is absolutely ready to come back.
“I intentionally left some meat on the bone in case we got to this point. Bass’s life is so incredible and it’s so expansive, there is no way that we could hit every major benchmark in his life in 8 or 10 hours or else it would’ve felt almost like a procedural,” Feehan told TheWrap.
And noting the story of the real-life Reeves being forced to arrest his own son in part to save his life, Feehan adds, “I would love to tell that story.”
“Lawman: Bass Reeves” is based on the life of Bass Reeves (played on the show by David Oyelowo), a former slave who became the first Black deputy U.
“I intentionally left some meat on the bone in case we got to this point. Bass’s life is so incredible and it’s so expansive, there is no way that we could hit every major benchmark in his life in 8 or 10 hours or else it would’ve felt almost like a procedural,” Feehan told TheWrap.
And noting the story of the real-life Reeves being forced to arrest his own son in part to save his life, Feehan adds, “I would love to tell that story.”
“Lawman: Bass Reeves” is based on the life of Bass Reeves (played on the show by David Oyelowo), a former slave who became the first Black deputy U.
- 12/19/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Francis Ford Coppola's bleak Vietnam War picture "Apocalypse Now" is not only one of the best films of 1979, but is handily one of the finest, most important films of its decade. Using Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella "Heart of Darkness" as a template, Copolla transposed the book's action from the late 1800s Congo to the jungles of Cambodia, and, in so doing, exposed the madness and horror of the Vietnam War in harrowing, soul-hollowing terms. As Captain Willars (Martin Sheen) treks deeper and deeper into the chaos of the natural world -- drifting ever closer to the insane, cult-founding rogue Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) -- reality begins to dissipate. Eventually, madness and violence are all that remain, and war is reduced to its base function: brazen, meaningless destruction and cruelty. "Apocalypse Now" is a great, great film.
Curiously, a lot of war enthusiasts love "Apocalypse Now," seemingly ignoring the film's...
Curiously, a lot of war enthusiasts love "Apocalypse Now," seemingly ignoring the film's...
- 12/18/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
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