emilio estevez Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I know that there is probably no one who is as sick of the term 'Brat Pack' as Emilio Estevez. Luckily, he has managed to make his mark as a director and not just be the answer to a trivia question, or even worse, a pop culture punch line. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Estevez has chosen the socially conscious drama Public as his directorial follow-up to 2006's Bobby. The story is based on a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece about how libraries were becoming the new shelters for the homeless and the mentally ill now that social programs have been cut to the bone.

Estevez also wrote the script that is, "set in Los Angeles, takes place during a 48-hour period on the two coldest days in the city, with the library overwhelmed by people seeking shelter. After getting rebuffed by the administration to keep the doors open, one librarian stages an act of civil disobedience. He ends up dealing with the library's new inhabitants, many of them mentally ill."

Estevez's inspiration for Public came from an unlikely source; mainly the movie-mogul Harvey Weinstein. A conversation that took place between the two during press for Bobby convinced Estevez to choose something really meaningful for his next project. Well, I guess you can't get heavier subject matter than the abandonment of the homeless and the mentally ill. Estevez has not begun any casting, but he is currently meeting with actors to fill the 15 plus roles in the film. Public is set to begin production on March 26th.

You often hear people refer to The Shining, Carrie and Pet Sematary as "Stephen King movies," but in the purest sense, 1986's Maximum Overdrive is the only movie that can hold the title because the King decided to direct this adaptation of his short story "Trucks" himself. As he explains in the trailer (which is on the DVD, or you can catch it on Youtube) "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. " Hard to say how much of that is hyperbole, but considering what a pop culture phenomenon the man was at the time (and continues to be), the idea of him taking the reins of this adaptation seemed pretty cool. King himself was not pleased with the end result, going so far as to call his tale of machines revolting against their masters a "moron movie," and I'm sure few would argue the point. As a fan of King's work and horror cinema in general, I've come to think of it as a failed experiment, but one that I was glad was undertaken.

An opening scrawl tells us that earth is passing through the tail of a rogue comet and will stay there for about eight days. The effects of the comet are first shown when a electronic bank marquee starts tossing F-bombs, and a bank patron (played by King) is angered when the ATM calls him an asshole. The machines are angry, it would seem, and as we all know payback can be a bitch, as is proven when a drawbridge decides to raise while there are still cars on it. Unlike King's short story, it's not just trucks but all machines that are revolting. In the movie we see items like an electric carving knife, gas pumps and lawnmowers turn on people.

To be an independent film director you have to be an independent film producer. It's essential. Often times the only way a film is made is because the director is not only creating the film but is also doing the legwork to establish funding for their projects. Filmmakers such as Jason Reitman, Neil Burger and even Emilio Estevez are adding producer credits to their IMDB profiles.

In an inspiring article from Hollywood Reporter, these directors were profiled to talk about their involvement in their most recent films. Reitman was fully responsible for getting this year's independent phenomena Thank You For Smoking funded. What he went through wasn't easy and certainly didn't produce immediate results. Perhaps the number one quality these director/producers must obtain is patience. It took him a total of seven years to get the film made. Now the film is nominated for two Golden Globes and two Independent Spirit Awards. Too bad we couldn't go into the future to predict its success; it would have shaved a good six years off of pre production. As a result, Reitman's career is not only where he wants it to be, but he is also an inspiration for other like-minded directors.

The cast of Bobby exercised their right to Freedom of Speech at the Dubai International Film Festival where they voiced their discontent with today's political climate. The film, directed by Emilio Estevez, chronicles the lives of 22 people who were at the Ambassador Hotel when Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on June 6, 1968. The film has been making its way through the festival circuit, as well as a limited theatrical release, and was just recently screened in Los Angeles at the AFI Film Festival. (Oh, and we should also mention that it was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Motion Picture category.) The film's subject, obviously a political one, has given the actors a platform in which to discuss the world's current political turmoils.

Actors Laurence Fishburne and Joshua Jackson were the most vocal at the Dubai's festival junket. Hollywood Reporter quoted Fishburne and Jackson expressing their embarrassment by the current state of affairs and that the American public needed to be more vocal about their discomfort in these affairs -- much like the public in the sixties -- as demonstrated in the film.

The inspiration for Gary Michael Waters -- executive producer of Bobby -- to make the film was "to revive the Kennedy legacy for a new generation." The legacy isn't a bad one to revive. Robert Kennedy is remembered for his incredible work during a volatile period in America's history. One of his most applauded efforts was his direct contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.

Bobby isn't the only film with a political agenda; rather it seems making a statement -- even if controversial -- is the inspiration for many films these days; Fahrenheit 911, Syriana and even the surprise hit documentary An Inconvenient Truth have their own agendas. Filmmakers tread in dangerous waters as politics becomes a touchy subject for most...but then it isn't art if it doesn't offend somebody, right?

There are a lot of things I get tired of -- people who spit in the streets, swearing in front of kids, waiting for the cannibalism to break out on Jericho. And one of the things most likely to make me roll my eyes back in my head is the tiresome, never-ending self- congratulation of the Baby Boom generation. Yes, yes, we get it -- you were really special, you truly were. If by 'special,' you mean 'numerous and annoying and in love with your own mythos.' I mean, I saw Bobby at Toronto; I fell into a bored, listless coma, snapped to attention only by the musical-hallucination number (and God, I wish I were kidding) featuring Ashton Kutcher in a bad hippie wig saying 'No, you shut up. ..." over and over to an orange. To an orange. I got up and walked out, figuring that anyone with a shred of self-awareness would recognize it for what it was -- yet another round of Hollywood's aging leftist dinosaurs, Liberalsaurus Rex, dislocating their own shoulders to pat themselves on the back. But then I read San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Mick LaSalle calling Bobby " ... one of the year's best films." (In the interests of disclosure, I know Mick, see him all the time at screenings, and he's one of the warmest, brightest and most considerate guys you could ever meet. But then again, he also thought Click was one of the year's best films.) I don't know if people are flocking to see Bobby -- Rotten Tomatoes has it at a paltry 44% "Fresh" rating, and the box office is abysmal; it's made six million dollars in 12 days on 1,600 screens. At the same time, I know it's going to be crammed down our throats this awards season -- and hey, if everyone who was in it votes for it, it might actually have a shot. That's one good thing about a movie with such a nonsensically huge cast, I guess: When you've made a miserable failure, at least you have lots of company.

Have you seen Bobby?

J.

Emilio Estevez was a lovable guy in the 80s. He was not only an Outsider, but he also cried at the pressures of his demanding father and his urge to tape butt cheeks together. Yet, the poor guy never became an icon. He had hot co-stars like Patrick Swayze and an estrogen-inflaming brother named Charlie to take those honors. When he was no longer a cute kid, his nice-boy face landed him a coaching job to a bunch of Mighty Ducks.

Then, he faded from view. With no teen angst or young hockey players, Estevez lost his foothold in Hollywood. That is, until he re-invented himself as a writer and director with the soon-to-be-released Bobby. It hasn't gotten critical acclaim, but it seems to be a very solid showing for the newly-revived screenwriter.

Now, Moviehole reports that Estevez is on-track for his next film. Emilio brought up his second feature (post-comeback)* a few months ago at TIFF, which he named Johnny Longshot. There, he equated the new screenplay both with the sports drama aspects of The Mighty Ducks and with his life over the last ten years. It will be a family film about harness racing that he describes as "inspirational."

It sounds like typical Disney-like fare, but I fear this inspiration will translate more into a kid-friendly product than a Seabiscuit hit. Regardless, I'm thinking about creating a game where you pick out the pieces of Emilio's reality in the story. Will there be the famous father whose shoes he must fill? A sister who flies under the radar? Or what about a womanizing brother?

*Thanks to Shawn for pointing other Emilio features. With 16 years since the last feature he wrote and directed, I think I was choosing to forget.

Friday's odds and ends:

• The Weinstein Company has picked up the American distribution rights to Emilio Estevez's sprawling RFK assassination drama, Bobby. Starring the pretty much all of Hollywood, the movie is due out this fall and, according to the most recent reports, is actually ahead of schedule.

• Well, that was quick. Mr. Brooks' good and evil pair of Kevin Costner and William Hurt now have their lady: according to this morning's Hollywood Reporter, Demi Moore has joined the film's cast. Refreshingly, Moore isn't playing a love interest who is threatened and made to scream (in a bad way) a lot by the bad guy. Instead, she'll be a "a tough detective whose devotion to her craft catches the attention and respect of the serial killer she is hunting." Ah, hell. The summary alone is creeping me out, so there's no way I have the nerves to see this movie. Dammit.

• When we reported late last year about the rumors that Radiohead was going to do the score for A Scanner Darkly, people came out of the woodwork to tell us it was all a huge, idiotic lie. But now the "rumor" is back again, and this time it's from the proverbial Mainstream Media: EW's Popwatch is reporting the story as a studio-confirmed fact - odd, since the version Jette saw the other day featured music by Graham Reynolds. So, basically, no one knows what's going on, not even the people at Warner independent Pictures. [Edit: Popwatch has has been updated based on new information from WIP. Radiohead isn't doing the score; instead, the movie will feature unspecified Radiohead songs, in addition to a Thom Yorke solo track.]
  

One would think that with a name like Wes Craven - his real name, by the way - that a life as a director of horror films would be the man's inescapable fate from the very start. While the 66-year-old Cleveland-born Renaissance man has created some of the most revered films of the modern genre like A Nightmare On Elm Street and the breakout Scream trilogy, there is more to him than that. He studied writing, psychology, philosophy and literature at Wheaton College and Johns Hopkins University, taught college, and did not even start working in the film industry until the age of 31 as a sound editor.

It was in 1971, though, when his path would intersect with that of another future horror legend - Friday the 13th creator Sean S. Cunningham. Their meeting first resulted in the largely forgotten Together, footnoted only because it starred a 19-year-old woman named Marilyn Briggs (who consequently met brothers Artie and Jim Mitchell, who rechristened her Marilyn Chambers and made her a porn icon in Behind The Green Door). However, the collaboration made fellow tyro Cunningham want to work with Craven again. The next year saw the release of the Cunningham-produced, Craven-directed The Last House On The Left, a remake of Swedish titan Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, believe it or not, a raw and grimy low-budget effort about a pair of murdering rapists who unknowingly hole-up in the house of the parents of one of their victims. The film became a cult favorite and launched Craven's career in movies.

Craven's second film, the savage and effective 1977 survival tale, The Hills Have Eyes, was about a family who, while traversing the desert, encounters a group of inbred maniacs who prey on these seemingly helpless castaways. Nearly three decades later comes the first remake of Craven's own work, with the new version helmed by French it-director Alexandre Aja (High Tension), released in the U.S. on March 10. Craven, who produced the film for Fox's boutique arm Fox Searchlight, was cool enough to call me at home for an impromptu chat. After I insulted his parentage and suggested a scenario in which he couple with a Cheerio (thinking I was being pranked by my friend Eric), I apologized and basked in fanboy glory for the remaining 22 minutes of our phoner.
 

I've been sitting here for a while now, staring at the blinking cursor on my blank screen, trying to think of something to say about the collector's edition--out this week--of the 1984 Alex Cox film, Repo Man. What do you say about a film that is quoted, still to this very day and largely unknowingly, by young punk wannabes, suburban potheads, and 30-something film nerds, but probably would elicit a "what?" from this decade's stock of yawning teenagers? Let alone that Repo Man couldn't get made in this decade, or the next, or the next after that. It's too political, satirical, and absurd; it reaches way beyond any current measuring stick we have for political, satirical, absurdist films--beyond Mean Girls, beyond Election, beyond whatever's dubbed the newest "piercing look at today's youth." Bah. Piercing look my ass.

Maybe I'll use some kind of joke for an introduction, something political and absurd, you know, just to mirror what I feel about this film? How about this: "So, a British guy wearing a headband and the inventor of the neutron bomb are sitting around one afternoon watching clips from the film Repo Man..." That's the start of a pretty great joke, no? Except, right then when you were thinking, "Hey, great joke!" I  was chuckling because what you don't know is that the British guy is director Alex Cox and the inventor of the neutron bomb is Sam Cohen, inventor of the neutron bomb, and yes, they really are sitting around watching Repo Man--in fact, they're part of a bonus featurette on the disc. Cohen is relaxing in a barcalounger, his feet up.   He wonders aloud in a gravelly voice, "What's that Emilio Estevez--that is his name?--up to these days?" Alex Cox doesn't know. He thinks Emilio might be trying his hand at directing, but he's not sure.

That's so obviously punk rock, right? A winking put-on by Cox for the DVD release, the disheveled scientist an unwitting stand-in for The Man. You think, "Poor guy's gonna get eviscerated by this aging punk rocker!" But it turns out that Sam Cohen called Alex Cox--essentially invited himself over--because next to Dr. Strangelove, Repo Man is his favorite film.

The cast for Bobby, Emilio Estevez's film about Bobby Kennedy's last hours, has been expanding like nobody's business. At last word, the currently filming project included roles for pretty much everyone except Pauly Shore - and yet Kennedy himself had not been cast. In fact, initial reports indicated that RFK would be seen only in newsreel footage; according to Estevez, audiences will "feel his presence and spirit through the lives of people who inhabit the walls of the hotel."

Now, though, word comes that Keen Eddie and Boston Legal star Mark Valley will be playing the title character. Valley, who looks nothing whatsoever like RFK, is certainly pretty - but what's going on here? If Estevez plans to show his central figure primarily in newsreel footage, why bother to cast a known actor for fill-ins (I'm thinking, for example, of shots from behind as he walks through the hotel kitchen, just before the shooting)? I suppose the whole Valley thing could be a lie - anyone have any information or thoughts?