Eddie Izzard, Eclectic Ladyman

Submitted by Brian Pendreigh on Sun, 02/02/2003 - 00:53

For a stand-up comedian, famous for wearing lipstick and dresses, Eddie Izzard is proving remarkably versatile in his new career of film star. With a work rate that would be the envy of any time and motion study, he has a series of films lined up for release in which he plays a cross-dressing soldier, the legendary Charlie Chaplin and the villain in a big-budget western. 

Haley Joel Osment Grows Up

Submitted by Paul Fischer on Wed, 01/22/2003 - 02:33

Once the cute, but hypnotic kid from The Sixth Sense and AI, Haley Joel Osment has grown-up. Audiences will discover a new Osment in Secondhand Lions, a comedy/drama about an isolated teenager who discovers unexpected love and friendship with two irascible uncles, played with devilish glee by Michael Caine and Robert Duvall.

So how does the 15-year-old think fans will respond to the new, deeper-voiced personna?

George Clooney's Bottom Line

Submitted by Paul Fischer on Wed, 01/22/2003 - 01:36

George Clooney says that he is not afraid of risk-taking and he's not talking about showing his bum on screen in his latest film.

George Clooney's self-image is put to the test with his latest film Solaris. A remake of Andrei Tarkovsky's sombre Soviet-era film, Solyaris (1972), it reunites Clooney with Steven Soderbergh, the director that he worked with on Ocean's Eleven and Out Of Sight.

Dustin Hoffman - hook, line and on graduating life

Submitted by Charlotte Dubenskij on Mon, 01/20/2003 - 00:40

I’m late. I sprint to the elevator and tap my feet as it ascends, subconsciously believing that this will make it go faster. Breathing hard and shallow, I approach the door, hoping that, like so many other stars, today’s will be later than myself. I push the door open and find that it is not so. Inside the room, sitting on a chair, is a very ordinary looking man, the sort you’d pass in the street and not give a second look. He has a blank expression on his face. I grimace, for this is not just any person. This is the Hollywood legend and two time Academy Award winner, Dustin Hoffman.

Frodo's Journey Into Darkness

Submitted by Paul Fischer on Tue, 12/10/2002 - 01:01

Elijah Wood says that the second part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy is much darker than the first but the final part will really "freak people out". 

Elijah Wood turns up for our interview in a New York hotel room with his hair closely cropped. An interesting cut for the young actor whose career has been revitalised as a result of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Suggesting he had his hair shorn for a new film role, the 21-year old former child star responds, "It was just for me. I wanted to do it for a long time and I just figured the time was right to do it now." 

Elf's A Lover Not A Fighter

Submitted by Paul Fischer on Thu, 12/05/2002 - 04:13

The elf Arwen Undómiel in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was originally a fighter, but the casting of Liv Tyler in the role gave it a different direction.

Liv Tyler was recovering from a nasty food disorder when we met at New York’s Regency Hotel. Simply dressed in a dark top and jeans, the beautiful actress, back on screen in this month’s latest and much-anticipated Lord of the Rings chapter, admitted to having spent the last month "being totally exhausted." Not from making a movie or even doing press to promote it, but being a girl and shopping.

VIFF Documentary Pitching Session

Submitted by Robert Alstead on Fri, 11/29/2002 - 22:30

So you’ve got a great idea for a documentary. Now how do you sell it? This was the premise for a public "pitching" event at the Vancouver International Film Festival’s annual Film and Television Trade Forum on Thursday 26th November.

Five documentary makers were given five minutes each to pitch their projects to a panel of three commissioning editors: Nick Jones, Head of Programming for Channel 4 and FilmFour; Richard Klein, Commissioning Editor for BBC General Factual Programmes and Ray McCarthy, Commissioning Editor for Regional Programming for Ireland’s RTE. 

Quiet American Takes On Rebel Bunny

Submitted by Paul Fischer on Tue, 11/19/2002 - 12:33

Brendan Fraser says he has been working with two "subversive" heroes from his childhood after his previous role in the "un-American" The Quiet American.

On soundstage 22 of the Warner lot in Hollywood, Brendan Fraser is preparing to shoot a scene with Bugs Bunny. No stranger to the cartoon world, Looney Tunes Back in Action is in stark contrast to The Quiet American, Australian director Phillip Noyce’s ambitious and already acclaimed take on Graham Greene’s Vietnam-set drama. 

When Harry Met James

Submitted by Brian Pendreigh on Mon, 11/18/2002 - 00:42

If an old-age-pensioner were menaced in the street by a teenage boy, the police might well be summoned. It seems it is fair enough in the cinema however for Harry Potter to take on James Bond head-to-head.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, opened nationwide on Friday five days ahead of James Bond’s 20th "official" outing, as if the ageing secret agent can no longer quite keep up. That does not take into account extensive Harry Potter "previews" last weekend, which gave the lad an £8 million start.