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3 articles from 2009

28 October 2009 1:20 AM, PDT | EmpireOnline | See recent EmpireOnline news »

Billy Bob Thornton will go up against Dwayne Johnson in the action thriller, Faster – a movie that became a lot more intriguing today, with the release of further plot details.In an act of ultra-stylisation that recalls the stark, pared-down style of Walter Hill’s The Driver, Johnson will play a character called, simply, Driver, who’s out to avenge the murder of his brother.Thornton will play a cop called, if you haven’t already guessed, Cop, who makes it his business to take Driver down and bring him in etc. etc.A third pivotal character – Killer, a hitman hunting down Driver – has yet to be cast.Of course, this could be a noir-ish conceit too far, but we rather like the metaphorical balls on display here. Certainly, all the signs are that Faster aims to move like a rocket, with no time for little things like characterisation and back story. …

9 September 2009 12:07 AM, PDT | The Hollywood Interview | See recent The Hollywood Interview news »

Director Walter Hill.

Kicking Ass with Walter Hill

by Jon Zelazny

Action flicks. Two-fisted tales. Guy movies. Whatever you want to call them, writer, producer, and director Walter Hill is one of the living masters, with a resume full of classics from The Getaway (1972), to the Alien series, and the definitive eighties action-comedy blockbuster, 48 Hrs. (1982).

2009 marks the 30th anniversary of The Warriors (1979), Hill’s surreal “street gang on the run” cult classic, and his breakout success as a director.

Jon: A couple years ago, you did an audio commentary and on-camera intro for a new DVD edition of The Warriors. It was the first time I’d ever seen you; is it my imagination, or have you kept a low profile over the years?

Walter Hill: I’d never done a commentary before on one of my films. I don’t like the idea of explaining a movie; I …

- The Hollywood Interview.com

13 March 2009 2:12 PM, PDT | JustPressPlay.net | See recent JustPressPlay news »

When referring to a movie that nabbed a second life, typically home video is the savior. There are countless movies that didn’t fare well in their original theatrical runs but have earned a so-called second life thanks to profitable video sales and rentals that make them much stronger than they ever were when they first arrived. Examples of this trend vary greatly, whether you’re referring to genre, era, proliferation (or magnitude of the “second life”) and, of course, how deserving it is. Most that get a boost long after its premiere got where it is now slowly, spread wide by word of mouth and critical re-analysis. Most of them were not well received during the initial run, and many are re-evaluated, and mistakes are mended. Among them: 2001, The Princess Bride, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Big Lebowski, Fight Club, Office Space and Dazed and Confused. These …

- Matt Medlock

3 articles from 2009