Live and Let Die Tagged Articles at Cinematical
'Movies Rock' Special Announces Line-Up
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Fandom », Exhibition », Home Entertainment »
Wait -- don't throw up your devil horns and prepare to rock out to the rock 'n' roll of cinema. Movies Rock is going to be a 2-hour television ode to the wonderful world of film and music, but not to film's rock. While it sounds like a history of rock 'n' roll in the movies, it's more about how movies 'rock' because they have music, rather than movies that 'rock' to rock 'n' roll. The Hollywood Reporter has posted the line-up for the special, which includes Beyonce, Carrie Underword, Elton John, Fergie, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Mary J. Blige, Legend, and composer John Williams.The solid pop lineup will tackle the classics. Beyonce is planning to belt out "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," Underwood is going to sing about "The Sound of Music," Fergie and Hudson will perform two Bond duets for "Live and Let Die" and "Goldfinger," and Blige and Legend are planning to sing "As Time Goes By." Meanwhile, Williams will lead the orchestra, and Elton will "honor the music from animated features." Ready to rock yet? Some work, but some...
The idea is nice and all, but who came up with that name? Sure, it's catchy, but catchy only works if you're luring them in for truthful reasons -- unless restraints are going to pop out of the couch and hold viewers down if they turn the special on. Now all I want is a special with the great rock songs of film. If you heard the title "Movies Rock," what songs would you line up, and who would you get to perform them?
Don't Go in the 'Black Water': Aussie Crocs on the Loose
Filed under: Independent », Thrillers », Cinematical Indie »
Maybe it's because they look like they swam with dinosaurs, or maybe it's because they can be found in so many places throughout the world (Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia), but it seems like everybody's got a crocodile story to tell. Whether it's the crocodile that bit off Captain Hook's hand (Peter Pan), the crocodile backs that James Bond runs across (Live and Let Die) or the giant Asian croc that mysteriously made its way to Maine (Lake Placid), nobody can resist the water-dwelling reptiles. Very helpfully, MJ Simpson has assembled "The Complete Killer Crocodile Filmography," which includes many strange and wonderful-sounding international titles. Simpson's list includes a half-dozen for 2007, which sounds like five too many. Set in South Africa, Primeval was first out of the gate. It was advertised as "Inspired by the true story of the most prolific serial killer in history," but Scott called it an "amazing three-headed undercooked movie" with "outrageously underwhelming CGI effects." The Australian picture Black Water is also said to be based on true events, but shouldn't have any problems with underwhelming CGI: the filmmakers say they "went to the north of Australia and braved the waters with real live saltwater crocodiles." Their web site includes footage of crocs thrashing about and gnawing on their cameras, and the trailer looks very promising: a man, his wife and his sister-in-law are stranded in a mangrove swamp surrounded by crocodiles when their boat is overturned and their guide goes missing. Sounds like the Open Water formula, but if the filmmakers can deliver 90 minutes of simmering tension, I'd watch it in a skipped heartbeat. Plans are to release it in Australia in November; Grindstone Entertainment Group claimed North American rights, but since they're a direct-to-DVD label (as noted by Ryan), evidently Black Water will be sadly denied exposure on American cinema screens.
[Via Inside Film Magazine]
Ian Fleming's Beloved Goldeneye To Be Turned Into Tourist Trap
Filed under: Action », Fandom », James Bond »
If you are a die hard fan of everything Bond, it would probably thrill you to walk in the footsteps of Ian Fleming and frolic in the surf footsteps where Roger Moore hopped over those crocodiles. USA Today reports that Ian Fleming's famous Jamaican retreat, Goldeneye, where he dreamed up his lady-killing secret agent, will now become something much more impersonal...the Bond aficionado's ultimate vacation destination. Fleming owned the retreat in St. Mary Parish, Jamaica in the mid-forties and the area is rife with Bond history; both Live and Let Die and Dr. No were filmed nearby. One of the stranger factoids about the retreat was that another former owner was reggae legend Bob Marley, who sold the property to current owner Chris Blackwell.
Hotelier Jason Henzell is involved in the project and said that Blackwell was looking to "develop a new niche in Jamaica called residential tourism, where people buy land, visit and ultimately promote the island." The spot is also home to plenty of Bond memorabilia from Fleming's personal items and the various film productions. The renovation is set to begin in June, but there was no word on cost for the entire project. I would think that a total revamp on 100-acre property isn't going to come cheaply. For the truly devoted though, no price tag could keep them away. Oh well -- so much for Fleming's untouched paradise.
RIP: Reel Important People -- September 25, 2006
Filed under: Obits »
Sir Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) - Oscar-winning composer (pictured) whose catchy score for The Bridge on the River Kwai is addicting for whistlers throughout the world. He also scored about 80 other films, including The Thin Red Line (1964); Suddenly, Last Summer; The Inn of the Sixth Happiness and Whistle Down the Wind. He died Saturday of a chest infection, in Norfolk, England.- Big Boy (1961-2006) - Alligator that appeared in Live and Let Die. He died following an illness on September 4th, in Kent, England.
- Roy M. Brewer (c.1909-2006) - Anti-communist leader of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees during Hollywood's era of blacklisting. He later was appointed a position in labor relations by union ally Ronald Reagan. He died of complications from pneumonia on September 16th.
- Gerald Green (1922-2006) - Writer and producer whose novels His Majesty O'Keefe and The Last Angry Man were adapted into movies. He later wrote for television and then worked in film, producing Salvador and recently executive producing Herzog's Rescue Dawn. He died of pneumonia on August 29th, in Norwalk, Connecticut.









