kevin bacon Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When news broke that a new version of Friday the 13th would be issuing forth from the bowels of the Hollywood studio machinery, I was not terribly distressed. Whatever they want to call it -- remake, sequel, or reboot -- the franchise had been soundly broken and thoroughly devalued for many years. I mean, c'mon: Jason on a boat? Jason in space? Freddy vs. Jason? Talk about flogging a dead horse ... So what's the harm in yet another cynical cash and dash enterprise? Like that would be anything new?

And then I took another look at the original and was surprised at how well it holds up.

Maybe it's because I haven't watched Sean S. Cunningham's film all the way through for many years, so many that I can't honestly recall the last time. I have vivid memories of my first viewing, weeks (or maybe months) after it opened, on the front end of a budget double feature at a second-run theater in the San Fernando Valley playing with, of all things, Apocalypse Now. Then as now, I tend to flinch and shield my eyes at explicit gore shots; still, all the kill scenes left deep impressions on my psyche. I would have been happier if they had played the strip monopoly game through to completion; I developed a crush on Adrienne King; and I couldn't get over seeing Bing Crosby's son Harry Crosby in a disreputable horror movie. (Kevin Bacon didn't register as anything more than a pretty boy.) What I saw of the gore shots were scarily gross in 1980 -- as in, how the heck did they do that? And the "reveal" of the killer's identity: wow.

"You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore ..."
-- Richard Nixon, on his 1962 loss to Pat Brown for the Governorship of California

That statement turned out, of course, not to be true; we would have Nixon to kick around for decades more. That statement also concealed a different truth, which is that Nixon -- the hunched, scowling, puritan-satyr of American politics -- could not only take a beating, but also dish one out. Frost/Nixon, Ron Howard's film adaptation of Peter Morgan's stage play, kicks Nixon around, but it also lets him kick back, as TV personality (not journalist or reporter, but personality) David Frost faces Nixon in a series of 1977 interviews for an ambitious, expensive and poorly-planned multi-night TV broadcast. Why would Nixon agree to an on-camera inquisition? Because Frost paid him -- $600,000 -- for the chance to do so, and because Nixon thought it might be a chance to re-emerge from his exile after resigning the presidency in 1974. Two men, their careers in decline, circling each other for a shot at redemption: Frost (Michael Sheen) is wagering his fortune on the chance to re-make his reputation; Nixon (Frank Langella), with neither reputation or fortune, is desperate for a chance to escape infamy.

But Frost/Nixon is not simply the equivalent of Thunderdome for readers of The Nation, where two men enter and one man leaves. Morgan's script is smart enough to make sure there are things hidden under that clash, a quieter film about character and communication, modern media and ancient principles. And we also get the interview field of combat, which drapes the slick surface of modern manners over the kind of brute, bloody battle you normally see only in nature documentaries. The film, like Frost's interviews, is not merely about Watergate -- which is good, because we have, I should think, drained that well of venality fairly dry -- but instead about bigger issues of accountability and process and principle. Frost, stripped of all pretense, was asking Nixon a good question: Who the hell do you think you are? Nixon, stripped of all pretense, was asking an equally good question: Who the hell are you to ask?

Have you always been interested in watching films, but only those featuring the eclectic works of Mr. Kevin Bacon? Trust me, I know how addicting watching Footloose at 3am can be -- and, yes, my neighbors get pissed off as well when I decide to re-enact the final number on my wood floor wearing a pair of loud black Bacon-esque shoes. But what can you do -- it's Kev! Luckily, us Bacon-ators finally have something to keep us busy: The Kevin Bacon Movie Club. For just twenty bucks a month, you'll receive a new Kevin Bacon film in the mail, along with a signed poster and -- wait for it -- Kevin Bacon himself will deliver it and watch the flick with you! Classic! Um, honey, cancel our plans for every weekend for the rest of our lives STAT! Check out the snazzy commercial below for more details, and in case you were wondering ... I've already signed up. Who knew they actually shot Apollo 13 in space? I sure as heck didn't!

We've had superheroes who actually hold some sort of power, and we've had normal folks pretending their super, but how about possible delusion, or secret superhero traits that lead you to spell poorly? As The Hollywood Reporter posts, Woody Harrelson and Sandra Oh are starring in a new film called Defendor, and Playlist-loving Kat Dennings is looking to join in on the fun. Woody will play a man who thinks he has a secret superhero identity, while Oh plays his shrink and Dennings would play a teen he becomes friends with. As a superhero, what sort of powers would suit Woody best? Leaping over buildings in a single bound? Tingling Spider sense? Stay tuned!

In the rumor realm, we've got buzz bubbling about a third Coco Chanel project (like two aren't enough). Beyond the TV movie with Shirley MacLaine and the feature with Audrey Tatou, The Guardian posts that there might be a third starring, believe it or not, Demi Moore. I guess the look is right, but could Mrs. Kutcher pull off a period piece -- one focused on an icon no less? (And just in case Coco isn't enough for you, the report also states that there are rumors about Vivienne Westwood and Kate Moss heading to the big screen.) *UPDATE: Westwood is on her way, with Kate Winslet signed to play the icon.

Now this next bit isn't exactly casting news, but it could become that -- Variety reports that Kevin Bacon is executive producing a new series for Showtime that dips into the life of Honest Abe's infamous assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Considering how well John Adams did, I wouldn't be surprised if Bacon grabs Booth's role for himself. There's a fair likeness.

Plus: Ex-Boston Legal star Rhona Mitra is heading to Separation City, and the ever lovely Beth Grant is dabbing in Extract.

We already know that Renee Zellweger is running towards Chris Noth in My One and Only, but who is she running from? There are lots of creepy possibilities in the Hollywood talent pool (who would make a believable love interest for Zellweger) -- actors like Javier Bardem, Crispin Glover, Cillian Murphy, and of course -- Kevin Bacon.

Variety reports that the cave dwelling, wild thing, hollow, woodsman has signed for the film, which has already started shooting in Baltimore. Based on George Hamilton's memories of his youth, the feature focuses on a road trip with mom, as she drives around looking for a rich man to complete the family. Bacon has landed the role of "the philandering band leader she tries to leave behind."

I've no doubt that Bacon will pull it off nicely, since creepy fare has become a second skin to the actor, but oh, how I'd like to see him in something lighter and fun, or serious, but not dark. He's a footlooser, for cripes sakes! Other suitors for Mamma Anne include Steven Weber and Nick Stahl (talk about traversing the possible ages), while George will be played by Logan Lerman, and his brother will be played by Mark Rendall.

A dedicated contributor to the Ain't it Cool News machine got the chance to catch what they claimed was the final cut of Ron Howard's political drama, Frost/Nixon, and the good news is that it earned a resounding thumbs up (if you make it through the entire review, there is also a little surprise regarding the Arrested Development feature). Frost/Nixon is based on the famous stage play by Peter Morgan, which premiered in 2007 and earned Frank Langella a Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play.

In 1977, Frost, as the host of a popular news show titled Frost on America, conducted a series of hard-hitting interviews with Richard Nixon. Nixon had been interviewed countless times before, but Frost was perhaps the only journalist to ever get him to admit his culpability in the Watergate break-in. Morgan adapted his own play for the screen, and it centers on Frost's team as well as re-enactments of the interviews.

Reprising their roles are Frank Langella as the disgraced former President Nixon, and Michael Sheen as British journalist, David Frost. Joining Langella and Sheen are Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, and Sam Rockwell as James Reston Jr. Judging by AICN's tipster, it looks like most of the praise will be directed at Langella's stellar performance as the former president. So for those of you who like to get an early jump on your Oscar pool, you might want to keep Langella in mind. Frost/Nixon goes into limited release on December 5th.

After Paris, je t'aime, it was only a matter of time before the cinematic spotlight turned to New York. Last May, word popped up that New York, I Love You was in the works, with a roster including Zach Braff, Mira Nair, Park Chan-Wood, and Fatih Akin. In January, Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen signed on to the project as well. The big surprise, however, was that Scarlett would be helming her own short, rather than appearing in Woody's.

According to the Daily Mail, she just shot hers the other day in Brooklyn, and they've got a bunch of pictures of her doing her thang. It must've been cold out there, seeing that she looks like a fashionable Eskimo in the one pic. While nothing about the plot was revealed, her short is said to be 5 minutes long, and features the '80s dance master Kevin Bacon. That's not a bad gig, and even more impressive that it's for a feature film, rather than a fashion magazine's short film series (not to knock the shorts that have come from it!).

The piece also talks about her burgeoning singing career, and how David Bowie just about loves her. He's quoted as saying: "Scarlett's performances are mystical and cool. She creates a mood that could have been summoned by someone like the novelists Margery Latimer or Jeanette Winterson." That's some mighty praise. I'm not sure I completely agree with the comparison, but how about you?

It is interesting to learn that filmmaker Jieho Lee has a fondness for the ending of Fellini's Nights of Cabiria. However, it is not so interesting to realize that he can't let go of this fondness enough to create a genuine film moment of his own. For instance, there is one significant scene in Lee's The Air I Breathe that plays so much like an homage to the final shot of Cabiria that it takes away from the actual film it is a part of. The scene involves a major character's death, so it's hard to go into detail without spoiling it for you, but I can say that recognizing the blatant tribute may cause you to feel less for that character than you should otherwise during that scene. After all, it is difficult to care about a character that comes off as simply a tool for Lee's unnecessary acknowledgment, or re-creation, of a part of a favorite film.

Maybe I just shouldn't read a film's press notes prior to watching it (I don't usually), as I might not have caught the homage without noting Lee's mention of Cabiria in his director's statement. And perhaps I wouldn't have been thinking about Lee's other influences, from The Wizard of Oz to Samuel Fuller's The Naked Kiss, and unfairly comparing The Air I Breathe to them. But it doesn't matter, because The Air I Breathe would still feel completely derivative without knowledge of the exact works that inspired Lee. To me, despite what I learned from the press notes, the film was mostly reminiscent of Inarritu's Amores Perros, and not only because of where it was filmed, how it interconnects multiple stories or the fact that it features a bank robbery, a female celebrity confined to an apartment and an obligatory car accident of some kind.

Growing up, my two favorite comedians were Steve Martin and John Candy. My favorite filmmaker was John Hughes. And yet I was never allowed to see the collaboration of my three heroes -- Planes, Trains and Automobiles, because it was Rated "R" and my parents are mean. When I finally broke my father down and was permitted to watch it, I treasured every moment. And I still do. Maybe it's the years of anticipation that made the film so special to me, but it easily ranks among my very favorite comedies of all time.

John Hughes was in the midst of an amazing hot streak in 1987. He had written the screenplays for hits like Mr. Mom, National Lampoon's Vacation, Pretty in Pink, and Some Kind of Wonderful. His first four films as a writer/director had been Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, four of the most important films of my youth (and a lot of peoples' youths). Planes, Trains and Automobiles was a bit of a departure for Hughes -- an "adult" comedy, with nary a teenager in sight. Thankfully, Hughes knew the complicated world of adult relationships and feelings just as well as he did that of teens.

Martin plays Neal Page, an uptight advertising man who is trying to get from New York to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving. John Candy plays Del Griffith, a slobby shower curtain ring salesman who is headed the same direction as Neal. For better or worse, they wind up taking the trip together. Tale as old as time. But beautiful writing, pitch-perfect performances, and a surprisingly powerful undercurrent of emotion make Planes, Trains and Automobiles the buddy comedy by which all others must be judged.

Almost two years ago, back in January of 2006, Cinematical first posted about the upcoming film called The Air I Breathe. While it went away for a bit, the film is finally gearing up for limited release in January, and a trailer has made its way online, courtesy of Aglet Productions. Coming from writer/director Jieho Lee (and co-written with Bob DeRosa), Breathe is a drama based on the Chinese proverb that says life is based on four emotional elements -- happiness, pleasure, sorrow, and love. Sure, this sounds like a film with four unrelated vignettes, but it's actually looking to be a rather dark story where each emotion intertwines with the others.

Lee uses them to tell the stories of a businessman who bets his life on a horse (Forest Whitaker as Happiness), a gangster who can see the future (Brendan Fraser as Pleasure), a popstar who falls victim to a crime boss (Sarah Michelle Gellar as Sorrow), and a doctor trying to save the love of his life (Kevin Bacon as love). As if that wasn't enough for a solid starter cast, the film also boasts the likes of Andy Garcia, Emile Hirsch, and Julie Delpy. All of these people are interconnected through a dark and seemingly desperate backdrop. The only thing that's funny about all of this is that Gellar is playing a woman famous for her singing and dancing (she sings when she has to, but as Once More with Feeling will attest, she's no an American Idol). Still, it's a good trailer, and if these clips are any indication, it should be one heck of a film. And at the very least, it's got to be better than Southland Tales!

[via Empire Online]