George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received three Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award. Clooney is also noted for his political activism, and has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since January 31, 2008. Sony VAIO PCG-3B1M Battery
Though he made his acting debut on television in 1978, Clooney gained fame and recognition by portraying Dr. Douglas "Doug" Ross on the long-running medical drama ER from 1994 to 1999. While working on ER, he started attracting a variety of leading roles in films including Batman & Robin (1997) and Out of Sight (1998), in which he first teamed with long-term collaborator Steven Soderbergh. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1T Battery
1999 saw the release of Three Kings, a well-received war satire set during the Gulf War featuring Clooney in another lead role. In 2001, Clooney's fame widened with the release of his biggest commercial success, Ocean's Eleven, the first of a profitable film trilogy, a remake of the film from 1960 with the members of The Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra as Danny Ocean. Sony VAIO PCG-3D1M Battery
He made his directorial debut a year later with the 2002 biographical thriller Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and has since directed Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Leatherheads (2008), and The Ides of March (2011). He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the Middle East thrillerSyriana (2005Sony VAIO PCG-3G2M Battery
) and subsequently fetched Best Actor nominations for such films as Michael Clayton (2007), Up in the Air(2009) and The Descendants (2011).
Clooney's humanitarian work includes his advocacy of finding a resolution for the Darfur conflict, raising funds for the2010 Haiti earthquake, Sony VAIO PCG-5R1M Battery
2004 Tsunami, and 9/11 victims, and creating documentaries such as Sand and Sorrow to raise awareness about international crises. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Clooney was born in Lexington, Kentucky.[5][6] His mother, Nina Bruce (née Warren, 1939–),[7] is a former beauty pageant queen. Sony VAIO PCG-7141M Battery
His father, Nick Clooney, is a former anchorman, as well as a game show and American Movie Classics host. Clooney's ancestry includes Irish, German, and English.[8] His paternal great-great-grandparents, Nicholas Clooney (of County Kilkenny) and Bridget Byron, emigrated to the United States from Ireland.[9] Sony VAIO PCG-7143M Battery
Clooney was raised a strict Roman Catholic.[10][11][12][13] He has an older sister, Adelia (also known as Ada); his cousins include actors Miguel and Rafael Ferrer, who are the sons of his aunt, singer Rosemary Clooney, and actor José Ferrer. He is also related to another singer, Sony VAIO PCG-7151M Battery
Debby Boone, who married his cousin Gabriel Ferrer (son of José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney).
Clooney began his education at the Blessed Sacrament School in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Spending part of his childhood in Ohio, he attended St. Michael's School in Columbus, and St. Susanna School in Mason. Sony VAIO PCG-7154M Battery
In middle school, Clooney developed Bell's palsy, a debilitating condition that partially paralyzes the face. The malady went away within a year. "That was the worst time of my life," he told the Daily Mirror in 2003. "You know how cruel kids can be. I was mocked and taunted, but the experience made me stronger."[14] Sony VAIO PCG-7162M Battery
His parents eventually moved to Augusta, Kentucky, where Clooney attended Augusta High School. He has stated that he earned all As and a B in school,[15] and was an enthusiastic baseball and basketball player. He tried out to play professional baseball with the Cincinnati Reds organization in 1977, but was not offered a contract. Sony VAIO PCG-7181M Battery
He did not pass the first round of player cuts.[16] He attended Northern Kentucky University from 1979 to 1981, majoring in Broadcast Journalism, and very briefly attended the University of Cincinnati, but did not graduate from either.[17] He had such odd jobs as selling men's suits and cutting tobacco. Sony VAIO PCG-41112M Battery
Early work, 1978–93
Clooney's first role was as an extra in the TV series Centennial in 1978. The series was based on the novel of the same name by James Michener, and was partially filmed in Clooney's hometown of Augusta, Kentucky. Sony VAIO PCG-7153M Battery
Clooney's first major role came in 1984 in the short-lived sitcom E/R (not to be confused with ER, the better-known hospital drama, on which Clooney also co-starred a decade later). He played a handyman on the series The Facts of Life, and appeared as Bobby Hopkins, a detective, on an episode of The Golden Girls. Sony VAIO PCG-71312M Battery
His first significant break was a semi-regular supporting role in the sitcom Roseanne, playing Roseanne Barr's supervisor Booker Brooks, followed by the role of a construction worker on Baby Talk, a co-starring role on the CBS drama Bodies of Evidence as Detective Ryan Walker, and then a year-long turn as Det. James Falconer on Sisters. Sony VAIO PCG-7144M Battery
In 1988, Clooney also played a role in Return of the Killer Tomatoes.
Breakthrough, 1994–99
Clooney achieved stardom when he played Dr. Doug Ross, alongside Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies, and Noah Wyle, on the hit NBC drama ER from 1994 to 1999. Sony VAIO PCG-7191L Battery
After leaving the series in 1999, he made a cameo appearance in the 6th season and returned for a guest spot in the show's final season.[19]
Clooney began appearing in films while working on ER. His first major Hollywood role was in From Dusk till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M Battery
He followed its success with One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer, and The Peacemaker with Nicole Kidman. Clooney was then cast as Batman in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin,[20]which was a moderate box office success, but a critical failure (with Clooney himself calling the film "a waste of money").Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M Battery
In 1998, he starred in Out of Sightopposite Jennifer Lopez, marking the first of his many collaborations with director Steven Soderbergh. He also starred in Three Kings during the last weeks of his contract with ER.
Success, 2000–present
After leaving ER, Clooney starred in commercially successful films including The Perfect Storm and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M Battery
In 2001, he teamed up with Soderbergh again for Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960s Rat Pack film of the same name. As of 2011, it was Clooney's most commercially successful film, earning more than $450 million worldwide.[22] The film spawned two sequels starring Clooney, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in 2007. Sony VAIO PCG-3J1M Battery
In 2001, Clooney and Soderbergh co-founded Section Eight Productions, for which Grant Heslov was president of television. Clooney made his directorial debut in the 2002 film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, an adaptation of the autobiography of TV producer Chuck Barris. Sony VAIO PCG-8141M Battery
Though the film didn't do well at the box office, Clooney's direction showed promise.[23]
In 2005, Clooney starred in Syriana, which was based loosely on former Central Intelligence Agency agent Robert Baer and his memoirs of being an agent in the Middle East. Sony VAIO PCG-8161M Battery
Clooney suffered an accident on the set of Syriana, which resulted in a brain injury with complications arising from a punctured dura.[24] The same year he directed, produced, and starred in Good Night, and Good Luck, a film about 1950s television journalist Edward R. Murrow's famous war of words with Senator Joseph McCarthy. Sony VAIO PCG-3C2M Battery
At the 2006 Academy Awards, Clooney was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night, and Good Luck, as well as Best Supporting Actor for Syriana. He won the Oscar for his role in Syriana.
Clooney next appeared in The Good German (2006), a film noir directed by Soderbergh that is set in post-World War II Germany. Sony VAIO PCG-5N2M Battery
In August 2006, Clooney and Heslov started the production company Smokehouse Pictures. In October 2006 Clooney also received the American Cinematheque Award, which honors an artist in the entertainment industry who has made "a significant contribution to the art of motion pictures".[25] Sony VAIO PCG-5P1M Battery
On January 22, 2008, Clooney was nominated for an Academy Award (and many other awards) for Best Actor for his role inMichael Clayton (2007). Clooney then directed his third film, Leatherheads (2008), in which he also starred. It was reported on April 4, 2008, in Variety that Clooney had quietly resigned from the Writers Guild of America over controversy surroundingLeatherheads. Sony VAIO PCG-5S1M Battery
Clooney, who is the director, producer, and star of the film, stated that he had contributed in writing "all but two scenes" of the film and requested a writing credit, alongside Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, who had been working on the screenplay for 17 years. In an arbitration vote, Clooney lost 2–1. Sony VAIO PCG-9Z1M Battery
He decided to withdraw from the union over the decision. Clooney became a "financial core status" non-member, meaning he no longer had voting rights, and cannot run for office or attend membership meetings, according to the WGA's constitution.[26] Sony VAIO PCG-7171M Battery
Clooney next co-starred with Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey in The Men Who Stare At Goats, which was directed by Heslov and released in November 2009. Also in November 2009, he voiced Mr. Fox in Wes Anderson's animated feature Fantastic Mr. Fox. Sony VAIO PCG-7186M Battery
The same year, Clooney starred in Up in the Air, which was initially given limited release, and then wide-released on December 25, 2009. For his performance in the film, which was directed by Jason Reitman, he was nominated for a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, BAFTA, and an Academy Award. Sony VAIO PCG-81112M Battery
2010 saw the release of The American, based on the novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth and directed by Anton Corbijn. Clooney played the lead role, and was a co-producer of the film.
As of 2011, Clooney was represented by Bryan Lourd, co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency (CAA).[27] Sony VAIO PCG-31311M Battery
2011 saw the release of The Descendants, in which Clooney starred as a husband whose wife has an accident that leaves her in a coma. He earned critical praise for his work as Matt King, and won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Sony VAIO PCG-8152M Battery
– Motion Picture Dramaand was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild for Best Actor. He was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Humanitarian work
Clooney is involved with Not On Our Watch Project, Sony VAIO PCG-31111M Battery
an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities, along with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub.[30]
In February 2009, he visited Goz Beida, Chad, with NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.[31] Sony VAIO PCG-61111M Battery
In January 2010, he organized the Telethon Hope for Haiti Now,[32] which collected donations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake victims.
In March 2012, Clooney was featured with Martin Sheen and Brad Pitt in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, Sony VAIO PCG-51112M Battery
'8' — a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage — as attorney David Boies.[33] The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.[34][35] Sony VAIO PCG-51211M Battery
Clooney has advocated a resolution of the Darfur conflict.[36]
He spoke at a 2006 Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. In April 2006, he spent ten days in Chad and Sudan with his father to make the TV special "A Journey to Darfur" reflecting the situation of Darfur's refugees, and advocated for action. Sony VAIO PCG-51212M Battery
The documentary was broadcast on American cable TV as well as in the UK and France. In 2008, it was released on DVD with the sale proceeds being donated to the International Rescue Committee.Sony VAIO PCG-41111M Battery
In September of the same year, he spoke to the UN Security Council with Nobel Prize-winner Elie Wiesel to ask the UN to find a solution to the conflict and to help the people of Darfur.[41] In December, he visited China and Egypt with Don Cheadle and two Olympic winners to ask both governments to pressure Sudan's government. Sony VAIO PCG-41111V Battery
On March 25, 2007, he sent an open letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, calling on the European Union to take "decisive action" in the region given the failure of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir to respond to UN resolutions.[43] He narrated and was co-executor producer of the 2007 documentary Sand and Sorrow.[44] Sony VAIO PCG-61412V Battery
Clooney also appeared in the documentary film Darfur Now, a call-to-action film released in November 2007 for people all over the world to help stop the Darfur crisis.[45] In December 2007, Clooney and fellow actor Don Cheadle received the Summit Peace Award from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome. Sony VAIO PCG-71112M Battery
In his acceptance speech, Clooney said that "Don and I … stand here before you as failures. The simple truth is that when it comes to the atrocities in Darfur … those people are not better off now than they were years ago."[46][47] On January 18, 2008, the United Nations announced Clooney's appointment as a UN messenger of peace, effective January 31.[1][2] Sony VAIO PCG-81111V Battery
Clooney conceived of and, with John Prendergast, human rights activist, co-founder of the Enough Project, and Strategic Advisor for Not On Our Watch Project, initiated the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), after an October 2010 trip to South Sudan. Sony VAIO PCG-81111V Battery
SSP aims to monitor armed activity for signs of renewed civil war between Sudan and South Sudan, and to detect and deter mass atrocities along the border regions there.[48]
Clooney and John Prendergast co-wrote a Washington Post op-ed piece in May 2011, titled "Dancing with a dictator in Sudan", arguing that: Sony VAIO PCG-81212M Battery
President Omar al-Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, is escalating bombing and food aid obstruction in Darfur, and he now threatens the entire north-south peace process ... the evidence shows that incentives alone are insufficient to change Khartoum's calculations. Sony VAIO PCG-81212V Battery
International support should be sought immediately for denying debt relief, expanding the ICC indictments, diplomatically isolating the regime, suspending all non-humanitarian aid, obstructing state-controlled bank transactions and freezing accounts holding oil wealth diverted by senior regime officials. Sony VAIO PCG-51111M Battery
On March 16, 2012, Clooney was arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy for civil disobedience, during a protest.[50][51] Clooney had planned to be arrested when he planned the protest.[51] Several other prominent participants in the protest were also arrested, including Martin Luther King III.[51] Sony VAIO VPCS13X9E/B battery
Controversy
In January 2003, Clooney made a controversial joke about the fact that Charlton Heston was suffering from Alzheimer's, and Clooney initially refused to apologize. While speaking at a National Board of Review event as he accepted an award on television, Clooney said: "Charlton Heston announced again today that he is suffering from Alzheimer's." Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery
Charlton Heston was suffering from Alzheimer's disease at the time.[54][55] When syndicated columnist Liz Smithasked Clooney whether he wasn't "going too far" with his remark, he responded: "I don't care. Charlton Heston is the head of the National Rifle Association; he deserves whatever anyone says about him."[53][56] Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery
Heston himself commented, "It just goes to show that sometimes class does skip a generation," referring to Clooney's aunt, Rosemary Clooney.[56] Heston further commented on the Clooney joke: "I don't know the man – never met him, never even spoken to him, but I feel sorry for George Clooney – one day he may get Alzheimer's disease. Sony VAIO VPCF13M8E/B battery
I served my country in World War II. I survived that – I guess I can survive some bad words from this fellow".[57] Clooney later said, "It was a joke... They got the quote wrong. What I said was 'The head of the NRA announced today ...' (Filmmaker) Michael Moore had just gotten an award. Sony VAIO VPCF13Z0E/B battery
Anyway, Charlton Heston shows up with guns over his head after a school shooting and then says in the documentary it's because of ethnic diversity that we have problems with violence in America. I think he's going to have to take whatever hits he gets. It was just a joke."[58] Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/L battery
Clooney said in 2008 he subsequently apologized to Heston in a letter, and that he received a nice response from Heston's wife.[15]
On January 16, 2006, during his acceptance speech for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Syriana, Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/W battery
Clooney paused to sarcastically thank disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff before adding, "Who would name their kid Jack with the word ‘off’ at the end of your last name? No wonder that guy is screwed up!"[59] Abramoff's father wrote a letter to The Desert Sun, calling Clooney's comment "glib and ridiculous".[60] Sony VAIO VPCF22M1E battery
Larry King asked Clooney on CNN if he would apologize, but Clooney declined.
Clooney was married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 until they divorced in 1993. He has said that he will never marry again.[61] After meeting British model Lisa Snowdon on the set of a Martini advertisement in 2000, he had a five-year on-again, Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H battery
off-again relationship with her.[62] In June 2007, he started dating reality personality Sarah Larson, but the couple broke up in May 2008.[63] In July 2009, Clooney was in a relationship with Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis until they split in June 2011.[64][65][66] Since July 2011, Clooney has been dating former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler.[67] Sony VAIO VPCF13M0E/B battery
Clooney has also dated actresses Kelly Preston (1987–1989), Renée Zellweger (2001) and Krista Allen (2002–2008) as well as French reality TV personality Céline Balitran (1996–1999).
Often featured in People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue, Sony VAIO VPCYB2M1E battery
Clooney's marital status and availability are a running joke among female fans who still fantasize they have a chance to bring him to the altar. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Las Vegas has a "Marrying George Clooney" photo-op, in which museum visitors can put on a wedding gown and stand next to a wax statue of the actor in a tuxedo.[73] Sony VAIO VPCYB3V1E battery
Despite his highly publicized relationships with women, Clooney's sexual orientation has been the subject of media scrutiny. When asked about the subject in an interview with The Advocate, Clooney stated, "The last thing you’ll ever see me do is jump up and down, saying, ‘These are lies!’ Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E battery
That would be unfair and unkind to my good friends in the gay community. I’m not going to let anyone make it seem like being gay is a bad thing."[74]
Clooney's main home is in Los Angeles. He purchased the 7,354 square feet (683.2 m2) house in 1995 through his George Guifoyle Trust. Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B battery
His villa in Italy is in the village of Laglio, on Lake Como,[75] near the former residence of Italian author Ada Negri.[76]
Motorcycle accident
On September 21, 2007, Clooney and then-girlfriend Sarah Larson were injured in a motorcycle accident in Weehawken, New Jersey. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B battery
Clooney's motorcycle was hit by a car. The driver of the car reported that Clooney attempted to pass him on the right,[77] while Clooney said that the driver signaled left and then decided to make an abrupt right turn and clipped his motorcycle. Clooney was treated and released from the Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, New Jersey.[78] Sony VAIO VPCYB3V1E/R Battery
On October 9, 2007, more than two dozen staff at the hospital were suspended without pay for looking at Clooney's medical records in violation of federal law.[79]Clooney said: "[W]hile I very much believe in a patient's right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers."[80] Sony VAIO VPCF23P1E Battery
"Max" (1987 – December 1, 2006) was Clooney's pet Vietnamese black bristled potbellied pig, often referred to as "Max the star" by Clooney.[81] The pig shared Clooney's Hollywood Hills home, as well as Clooney's bed, and frequently made cameos in interviews, mostly because of his enormous size.[82] Sony VAIO VPCF23N1E Battery
He is often credited with saving Clooney's life by waking him up before the Northridge earthquake on January 16, 1994.[81] In 2006, the pig was taken for a flight on John Travolta's private jet.[83]
Max was bought by Clooney in 1988 as a gift for his then-girlfriend Kelly Preston, who later became Travolta's wife.[84] Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery
The pig used to have a special cattle-pen and his own corner in the garage of Clooney's manor.[85] Max was seriously injured in 2001 when one of Clooney's friends accidentally ran him over with his car.[86] Weighing ca. 300 pounds (over 130 kg), Max died in Los Angeles of natural causes, as has been stated by Clooney's press secretary Stan Rosenfield. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/G battery
Because he was known to have arthritis, and was partly blind, the animal was falsely reported to have died in January 2005. Clooney dotingly recalls that Max would squeal every morning until he was fed.[83] A column on Max by Clooney's father, Nick, appeared in The Cincinnati Enquirer. Sony VAIO VPCF24M1E battery
He also owned two bulldogs, named Bud and Lou, after the famous comedy team Abbott and Costello. Both dogs have died; one from arattlesnake bite.[87][88]
In the media
Clooney is one of three people to have been given the title of "Sexiest Man Alive" twice by People Magazine; first in 1997 and again in 2006.[89] HP Pavilion DV6 Battery
He appeared in commercials outside the US for products such as Fiat, Nespresso, and Martini vermouth, and lent his voice to a series of Budweiser ads beginning in 2005.[90] Clooney was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007, 2008, and 2009.[ HP Pavilion DV6-1000ET Battery
South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker lampooned Clooney, among other stars, in their feature film Team America: World Police. Clooney later said that he would have been offended if he hadn't been made fun of in the film.[94] He was also mentioned in the South Park episode "Smug Alert!", which mocks his acceptance speech at the 78th Academy Awards. HP Pavilion DV6-1001TX Battery
Clooney has also lent his voice to South Park, however, appearing in the episode "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" as Sparky the Dog, and as the emergency room doctor in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Clooney was also caricatured in the American Dad! episode Tears of a Clooney, in which Francine sees her plans to destroy Clooney materialize. HP Pavilion DV6-1001XX Battery
Director Alexander Cartio made his debut feature film entitled Convincing Clooney about a Los Angeles artist, who faced with rejection as an actor and screenplay writer, arrives at his master plan to get Clooney to star in his first-ever low-budget short film. The story was released on DVD in November 2011. HP Pavilion DV6-1002TX Battery
From Dusk Till Dawn is a 1996 horror crime action thriller film written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The movie stars Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino and Juliette Lewis. The film was followed by two direct-to-video[2] follow-ups, a sequel, HP Pavilion DV6-1003TX Battery
From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money and a prequel, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter. They were both received poorly by critics.[3][4] Danny Trejo is the only actor to appear in all three, although Michael Parks appears in both From Dusk Till Dawn and The Hangman's Daughter. HP Pavilion DV6-1004TX Battery
Rodriguez, Tarantino andLawrence Bender served as producers on all three movies. In late 2010 it was reported that a possible fourth film in the series may be produced.
Two brothers Seth (George Clooney) and Richard "Richie" Gecko (Quentin Tarantino) are wanted by the FBI and Texas police for a bank robbery that has left several people dead. HP Pavilion DV6-1005EA Battery
They stop at a liquor store with the intent of just picking up a state map, but the psychotic Richie kills Ranger Earl McGraw (Michael Parks) and the cashier (John Hawkes) and burns the store down. During the gunfight, Richie is shot in his left hand.
The Geckos are heading towards Mexico, where a contact has arranged a safehouse for them. HP Pavilion DV6-1005EZ Battery
Along the way they stop at a motel and it is revealed that they had been keeping a bank teller (Brenda Hillhouse) in their car trunk as hostage. While Seth goes out to buy some food, Richie brutally rapes and murders the teller, which infuriates Seth when he returns. HP Pavilion DV6-1005TX Battery
Meanwhile, Jacob (Harvey Keitel), a pastor who is experiencing a crisis of faith, arrives at the same motel with his daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis) and his adopted son Scott (Ernest Liu). Realizing that the family's RV can be used to get them across the border, the brothers kidnap the family, HP Pavilion DV6-1006TX Battery
making a truce that if they can make it past the border, Jacob and his family will not be harmed. The RV reaches the border which is swarmed with Mexican police. The Gecko brothers hide in the bathroom with Kate, to ensure Jacob will not say anything to the cops. HP Pavilion DV6-1007TX Battery
But when one cop (Cheech Marin) comes up to the window to speak with him, Jacob acts a bit strange and nervous, and says it just him and his son crossing the border, but the cop hears a noise in the back and asks what it was. When Jacob replies his daughter, the cop comes aboard. He knocks on the bathroom door and Kate answers. HP Pavilion DV6-1008TX Battery
When they open the door, they see Kate sitting on the toilet, the brothers hidden behind the shower curtain. Kate yells for them to get out, and the cops leave, believing they have cleared the RV of any suspicious activity. After successfully reaching Mexico, they arrive at the "Titty Twister",HP Pavilion DV6-1009EL Battery
a strip club in the middle of a desolate part of Mexico, to meet their contact Carlos (Cheech Marin's second role) at dawn.
Before entering, Seth and Richie get into a fight with the doorman Chet Pussy (Cheech Marin's third role), after the latter makes a lewd comment towards Kate. HP Pavilion DV6-1009TX Battery
Inside, they are initially ordered to leave by the bartender Razor Charlie (Danny Trejo), as only bikers and truckers are allowed, but Jacob defuses the situation by showing him his driver's license which has a trucker rating. Seth and Richie drink heavily, encouraging the entire group to do the same. HP Pavilion DV6-1010EA Battery
Richie takes special notice of the club's star performer, Santánico Pandemónium (Salma Hayek) during an extended solo performance, after which Chet Pussy and some others approach the group, looking to settle the score with the Geckos. In a short confrontation, HP Pavilion DV6-1010ED Battery
Richie is stabbed in his already wounded hand, and seeing his blood, Santánico attacks him, undergoing a transformation into a horrific vampire.
Chaos ensues as the employees, the strippers and the house band (Tito & Tarantula) are all revealed to be vampires. HP Pavilion DV6-1010ET Battery
Most of the patrons are quickly killed, with the toughest of them fighting for their lives. Richie is bitten by Santánico and bleeds to death. Only Seth, Jacob, Kate, Scott, a biker named Sex Machine (Tom Savini) and a Vietnam veteran trucker named Frost (Fred Williamson) survive the attack. HP Pavilion DV6-1010TX Battery
They quickly establish an alliance in order to survive through the night. Seth convinces the group that Jacob is their best weapon, but only if he rediscovers his faith, and they also figure out how forming a cross with two objects helps fend off the vampires.
The slain patrons, including Richie, suddenly reawaken as vampires, HP Pavilion DV6-1011TX Battery
forcing the group to kill them all. During this second struggle, one of the vampires bites Sex Machine's arm. While the group is listening to Frost recount an event from his days in Vietnam, Sex Machine transforms into a vampire and bites both Frost and Jacob before being tossed through a boarded up window, HP Pavilion DV6-1012TX Battery
which allows many other vampires, in the form of bats, to enter. Seth and the Fullers retreat to a storeroom and improvise anti-vampire weapons from supplies left by prior victims of the bar. The four stage their final assault on the vampires, their weapons proving effective in destroying many of the creatures. HP Pavilion DV6-1013EA Battery
During the battle, Sex Machine is killed by Kate and Jacob slays the vampiric Frost. Jacob transforms, but Scott is hesitant to kill him and gets bitten. He manages to dispatch his father and is dragged down by other vampires. Kate follows the wishes of her brother and kills him, also destroying his attackers. HP Pavilion DV6-1013TX Battery
As the sun rises, only Seth and Kate remain alive, surrounded and low on ammunition. Just then, sunlight breaks through the bullet-holes in the bar walls and burns the vampires. Seth and Kate shoot out more holes, which allows them to survive until Carlos and his guards show up. HP Pavilion DV6-1016EZ Battery
They open the doors, and the sunlight reflects on the bar's disco ball, killing the rest of the creatures while Seth and Kate flee outdoors. Safely outside, Seth confronts a bewildered Carlos, who asks if the bar was run by psychopaths. Seth sarcastically replies that psychopaths don't explode in sunlight. HP Pavilion DV6-1018EL Battery
Angry over the deaths of Richie, Jacob and Scott, Seth demands that Carlos lower his 30% take for his stay in El Rey and telling them to wait in the bar, to which Carlos reluctantly agrees. Kate offers to accompany Seth, but fearing for her safety, he declines and gives her some cash. HP Pavilion DV6-1020EC Battery
After Kate drives the RV away, the camera pans back to reveal that the "Titty Twister" bar is the top of an Aztec temple partially sunk into a valley wall, with many abandoned motorbikes and trucks seen around it.
Earl McGraw is a recurring character in Rodriguez and Tarantino's works, having appeared in Kill Bill, Planet Terror and Death Proof. HP Pavilion DV6-1020ED Battery
Chango Beer and Sex Machine's codpiece gun are references to Rodriguez's 1995 film Desperado. Seth also returns to the hotel with Big Kahuna Burgers which were used in Pulp Fiction.
Labor issues
From Dusk Till Dawn employed a non-union production crew, which is unusual for a production with a budget above $15 million. HP Pavilion DV6-1020EI Battery
Rodriguez, Tarantino and Bender defended this choice because it made for a more team-like atmosphere on the set instead of people having to stick to their certified jobs. Yet the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, HP Pavilion DV6-1020EJ Battery
Artists and Allied Crafts targeted the production for strike action seeking to shut down filming, feeling that the film was a large enough production to warrant a unionized crew. This issue is covered in the making-of documentary Full Tilt Boogiefeatured on the film's DVD. HP Pavilion DV6-1020EK Battery
Critical reception for From Dusk Till Dawn was mixed to positive. Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars and described it as "a skillful meat-and-potatoes action extravaganza with some added neat touches".[6] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, HP Pavilion DV6-1020EL Battery
"The latter part of From Dusk till Dawn is so relentless that it's as if a spigot has been turned on and then broken. Though some of the tricks are entertainingly staged, the film loses its clever edge when its action heats up so gruesomely and exploitatively that there's no time for talk".[7] HP Pavilion DV6-1020EQ Battery
Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" rating and Owen Gleibermanwrote, "Rodriguez and Tarantino have taken the let-'em-eat-trash cynicism of modern corporate moviemaking and repackaged it as junk-conscious 'attitude.' InFrom Dusk till Dawn, they put on such a show of cooking up popcorn that they make pandering to the audience seem hip".[8] HP Pavilion DV6-1020ET Battery
However, in his review for theWashington Post, Desson Howe wrote, "The movie, which treats you with contempt for even watching it, is a monument to its own lack of imagination. It's a triumph of vile over content; mindless nihilism posing as hipness".[9] HP Pavilion DV6-1022EL Battery
Cinefantastique magazine's Steve Biodrowski wrote, "Whereas one might reasonably have expected that the combo of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez would yield a critical mass of nuclear proportions, instead of an atomic fireball's worth of entertainment, we get a long fuse, quite a bit of fizzle, and a rather minor blast".[10] HP Pavilion DV6-1023EF Battery
In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle called the film, "an ugly, unpleasant criminals-on-the-lam film that midway turns into a boring and completely repellent vampire 'comedy.' If it's not one of the worst films of 1996 it will have been one miserable year".[11] HP Pavilion DV6-1023EM Battery
In Marc Savlov's review for the Austin Chronicle, he wrote, "Fans of Merchant-Ivory will do well to steer clear of Rodriguez's newest opus, but both action and horror film fans have cause for celebration after what seems like a particularly long splatter-drought. This is horror with a wink and a nod to drive-in theatres and sweaty back seats. This is how it's done".HP Pavilion DV6-1025EF Battery
Batman & Robin is a 1997 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the fourth and final installment in the Burton/Schumacher Batman film series, and is a sequel to Batman Forever (1995), with George Clooney replacing Val Kilmer as Batman. HP Pavilion DV6-1025EI Battery
The returning cast features Chris O'Donnell as Robin,Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon, and Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth.
Batman & Robin tells the story of Batman and Robin as they attempt to stop villains Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), HP Pavilion DV6-1025EZ Battery
Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), and Bane (Robert Swenson) from covering Gotham City with ice and vegetation while at the same time struggling to keep their partnership together. The film also features the introduction of Alfred's niece Barbara Wilson, who later aids Batman and Robin in the form of Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone). HP Pavilion DV6-1027EF Battery
Development for Batman & Robinstarted immediately after Batman Forever, and Warner Bros. commissioned the film for a June 1997 release. Principal photography began in September 1996 and finished in January 1997, two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule. HP Pavilion DV6-1030CA Battery
Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997, and received negative reviews. Observers criticized the film for itstoyetic and camp approach, as well as possible homosexual innuendo added by Schumacher. Batman & Robin received 11 nominations at the 1997 ceremony of the Razzie Awards, including one for Worst Picture. HP Pavilion DV6-1030EC Battery
After this, Warner Bros. canceled the unproduced Batman Triumphant, and the film series was eventually rebooted with Batman Begins (2005) by directorChristopher Nolan. The song made for the film, "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" by The Smashing Pumpkins, won aGrammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards. HP Pavilion DV6-1030ED Battery
In Gotham City, Batman and Robin attempt to stop Mr. Freeze from stealing a cache of diamonds. The supervillain freezes Robin and flees, warning Batman he has 11 minutes to thaw Robin. They learn that Freeze was scientist Dr. Victor Fries who became dependent on a diamond-HP Pavilion DV6-1030EF Battery
powered subzero suit following an accident in a cryogenics lab he was using to find a cure for his wife, Nora, who was suffering from a terminal illness called MacGregor's Syndrome.
Meanwhile, in South America, botanist Dr. Pamela Isley is working under Dr. Jason Woodrue, HP Pavilion DV6-1030EM Battery
a mad scientist who recently had his funding cut by Wayne Enterprises and is experimenting with the strength serum "Venom". Pamela discovers Dr. Woodrue subjecting a diminutive convict to the experiment, transforming him into the muscular "Bane". Dr. Woodrue and Pamela argue over the use of the drug and, HP Pavilion DV6-1030EO Battery
when she refuses to join him, Woodrue overturns a shelf of various toxins onto her. She transforms into the seductive Poison Ivy before killing Dr. Woodrue with a kiss from her poisonous lips. She leaves with Bane for Gotham, intending to use the chemicals produced by Wayne Enterprises for her schemes. HP Pavilion DV6-1030EQ Battery
Back in Gotham, Barbara Wilson, Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth's niece, makes a surprise visit and is invited to stay at Wayne Manor until she returns to college. Alfred is revealed to be suffering from MacGregor's Syndrome. Poison Ivy interrupts a Wayne Enterprises press conference unveiling a new observatory, HP Pavilion DV6-1030US Battery
to propose a project that would turn Gotham City into a lush rainforest, but Bruce turns down the offer. Later, a charity event is held by Wayne Enterprises with special guests Batman and Robin in attendance. Ivy seduces them as well as several other men with her pheromonepowder she blows at victims, HP Pavilion DV6-1038CA Battery
until Freeze crashes the party and steals a diamond from the event. Freeze is captured by Batman and detained at Arkham Asylum, but flees with the help of Ivy and Bane.
Robin becomes smitten with Ivy and begins to rebel against Batman. HP Pavilion DV6-1040EB Battery
Ivy imprisons Robin when he does not give in to her charms and subdues Batman when he confronts her. Barbara – now a costumed crime-fighter calling herself Batgirl — arrives and defeats her. Batman, Robin, and Batgirl go after Freeze together. When they arrive at the observatory where Freeze and Bane are, Gotham is completely frozen from Freeze's ice ray. HP Pavilion DV6-1040ED Battery
Robin and Batgirl confront Bane and defeat him, while Batman and Freeze fight, with Batman winning. Freeze destroys the observatory with a set of bombs Bane planted, but Batman escapes. Batgirl and Robin unfreeze Gotham by repositioning the observatory's satellites, which use their mirrors to reflect sunlight, in order to thaw Gotham from outer space. HP Pavilion DV6-1040EI Battery
Batman shows Freeze a recording of Ivy during her fight with Batgirl, in which she brags about killing Nora. Batman tells Freeze that his wife is not dead; she was restored and moved to Arkham, where he could complete his research. Batman asks Victor for the cure he created for the first stage of MacGregor's Syndrome for Alfred; HP Pavilion DV6-1040EJ Battery
the ex-scientist atones for his misdeeds by giving him the medicine he had developed.
Ivy is detained at Arkham with a vengeful Freeze as her cellmate. Alfred is eventually healed, and everyone agrees to let Barbara stay at the mansion.
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. FreezeHP Pavilion DV6-1040EK Battery
A Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist and two-time Olympic decathlete who suffers a terrible accident while trying to cryogenically preserve his terminally ill wife. As a result, he is transformed into a criminal forced to live in a sub-zero suit powered by diamonds. HP Pavilion DV6-1040EL Battery
Patrick Stewart was considered for the role,[2] before the script was rewritten to accommodate Schwarzenegger's casting.[3] Schumacher decided that Mr. Freeze must be "big and strong like he was chiseled out of a glacier".[4] Schwarzenegger was paid a $25 million salary for the role. [5][6] HP Pavilion DV6-1040EV Battery
- His prosthetic makeup and wardrobe took six hours to apply each day.[7]
George Clooney as Bruce Wayne / Batman
A billionaire industrialist who witnessed his parents' murder as a young boy. At night, Bruce becomes Batman, Gotham City's vigilante protector. HP Pavilion DV6-1040EZ Battery
A billionaire industrialist who witnessed his parents' murder as a young boy. At night, Bruce becomes Batman, Gotham City's vigilante protector. HP Pavilion DV6-1040EZ Battery
Eric Lloydportrays him as a child in a flashback. Val Kilmer decided not to reprise the role from Batman Forever. Director Joel Schumacher admitted he had difficulty working with Kilmer on Forever. "He sort of quit," Schumacher said, "and we sort of fired him."[8] HP Pavilion DV6-1042EL Battery
Kilmer said he was not aware of the fast track production and was already committed to The Saint (1997).[4] Schumacher cast Clooney in the role because he felt the actor could provide a lighter interpretation of the character than Michael Keaton (in Batman and Batman Returns) and Kilmer.[4] HP Pavilion DV6-1044EL Battery
- The shooting schedule allowed Clooney to simultaneously work on ER without any scheduling conflicts.[9]
Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson / Robin
The crime-fighting partner to Batman and nephew to Bruce Wayne. He has begun to chafe against Batman's authority. HP Pavilion DV6-1045EE Battery
The crime-fighting partner to Batman and nephew to Bruce Wayne. He has begun to chafe against Batman's authority. HP Pavilion DV6-1045EE Battery
Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy
A botanist who becomes a crazed eco-terrorist after being pushed into vials of chemicals, poisons, and toxins. Demi Moore was previously considered for the role.[2] HP Pavilion DV6-1045EI Battery
A botanist who becomes a crazed eco-terrorist after being pushed into vials of chemicals, poisons, and toxins. Demi Moore was previously considered for the role.[2] HP Pavilion DV6-1045EI Battery
- Thurman took the role because she liked the femme fatale characterization of Poison Ivy.[4]
Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson / Batgirl
Her parents died in a car accident and Alfred, her uncle, was very close to her mother, Margaret. HP Pavilion DV6-1045EO Battery
Her parents died in a car accident and Alfred, her uncle, was very close to her mother, Margaret. HP Pavilion DV6-1045EO Battery
- Silverstone was the only choice for the role.[2] Unlike the comics, this Batgirl does not share the same surname as Commissioner Gordon.
Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth
The trusted butler for Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. HP Pavilion DV6-1045EZ Battery
The trusted butler for Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. HP Pavilion DV6-1045EZ Battery
- Alfred is dying of a rare disease from which Mr. Freeze's wife also suffers.
Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon
The police commissioner of Gotham City. He is close to Batman and informs him of numerous crimes. HP Pavilion DV6-1046EL Battery
The police commissioner of Gotham City. He is close to Batman and informs him of numerous crimes. HP Pavilion DV6-1046EL Battery
John Glover as Dr. Jason Woodrue
A deranged scientist who wants to take over the world with his Venom-powered "supersoldiers". He is responsible for the creation of both Bane and Poison Ivy, the latter of whom kills him with a kiss from her toxic lips. HP Pavilion DV6-1050EF Battery
A deranged scientist who wants to take over the world with his Venom-powered "supersoldiers". He is responsible for the creation of both Bane and Poison Ivy, the latter of whom kills him with a kiss from her toxic lips. HP Pavilion DV6-1050EF Battery
- Elle Macpherson as Julie MadisonBruce Wayne's girlfriend. She proposes to Bruce, but he does not respond, fearing for her safety.
Vivica A. Fox as Ms. B. HavenMr. Freeze's sexy assistant who flirts with him constantly. HP Pavilion DV6-1050EI Battery
- He is unresponsive, as he is still in love with his wife.
- Vendela Kirsebom as Nora FriesMr. Freeze's cryogenically-frozen wife.
Elizabeth Sanders as Gossip GertyGotham's top gossip columnist. HP Pavilion DV6-1050EN Battery
Robert "Jeep" Swenson as BanePoison Ivy's bodyguard and muscle, who was originally a diminutive criminal named Antonio Diego (portrayed by Michael Reid MacKay). Transformed into a hugely powerful "Super-soldier" by the strength-enhancing drug "Venom", HP Pavilion DV6-1050EO Battery
he was seen assisting the main villains in several ways, including getting Mr. Freeze's suit back from Arkham Asylum, and fighting against the main heroes several times, eventually being defeated by Robin and Batgirl after they found a way to stop the venom flow to his brain. HP Pavilion DV6-1050EP Battery
- This was Swenson's last and most notable role before dying of heart failure less than 2 months after the film's release.
- Michael Paul Chan as Dr. LeeThe research scientist who Mr. Freeze kidnaps.
With the box office success of Batman Forever in June 1995, Warner Bros. HP Pavilion DV6-1050ET Battery
instantly commissioned a sequel.[10] They hired director Joel Schumacher and writerAkiva Goldsman to reprise their duties the following August,[4] and decided it was best to fast track production for a June 1997 target release date.[10]Schumacher wanted to homage both the broad camp style of the 1960s television series and the work of Dick Sprang.[9] HP Pavilion DV6-1050US Battery
The storyline of Batman & Robin was conceived by Schumacher and Goldsman during pre-production on A Time to Kill.[11] Portions of Mr. Freeze's back-story were based on the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice", written by Paul Dini.[12] The original start date was August 1996,[8] HP Pavilion DV6-1053CL Battery
but principal photography did not begin until September 12, 1996.[13] Batman & Robin finished filming in late January 1997,[14] two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule.[9] The film was mostly shot at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.[4] HP Pavilion DV6-1055EE Battery
When comparing work on Batman Forever, Chris O'Donnell, who portrayed Robin, explained, "It just felt like everything got a little soft the second time. OnBatman Forever, I felt like I was making a movie. The second time, I felt like I was making a kid's toy commercial."[4] HP Pavilion DV6-1056EL Battery
According to John Glover, who played Dr. Jason Woodrue, "Joel [Schumacher] would sit on a crane with a megaphone and yell before each take, 'Remember, everyone, this is a cartoon'. It was hard to act because that kind of set the tone for the film."[4] Production designer Barbara Ling admitted her influences for the Gotham City HP Pavilion DV6-1058EL Battery
design came from "neon-riddenTokyo and the Machine Age. Gotham is like a World's Fair on ecstasy."[15] Rhythm and Hues and Pacific Data Images created the visual effects sequences, with John Dykstra and Andrew Adamson credited as the visual effects supervisors. HP Pavilion DV6-1060EL Battery
Batman & Robin was a critical failure; as of June 2010, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 13% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 64 reviews, certifying it "Rotten", with an average rating of 3.5/10, and the consensus: "Joel Schumacher's tongue-in-cheek attitude hits an unbearable limit in Batman & Robin, HP Pavilion DV6-1060EO Battery
resulting in a frantic and mindless movie that's too jokey to care much for."[22] By comparison Metacritic collected an average score of 28, based on 21 reviews.[23]
Schumacher and producer Peter MacGregor-Scott blamed the negative reception of Batman & Robin on Warner Bros.' decision to fast track production. HP Pavilion DV6-1060ES Battery
"There was a lot of pressure from Warner Bros. to make Batman & Robin more family-friendly," Schumacher explained. "We decided to do a less depressing Batman movie and less torture and more heroic. I know I have been criticized a lot for this, but I didn't see the harm in that approach at all."[4] HP Pavilion DV6-1060EV Battery
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times criticized the toyetic approach and Mr. Freeze's one-liner jokes.[24] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times believed the film "killed" the Batman film series, and felt Batman & Robin depended too much on visual effects.[25] HP Pavilion DV6-1062EL Battery
Desson Thomson of The Washington Post largely disapproved of Schumacher's direction and Akiva Goldsman's script.[26] Mick LaSalle, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, said, "George Clooney is the big zero of the film, and should go down in history as the George Lazenby of the series."[27] HP Pavilion DV6-1066EL Battery
However, Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave a positive review. She praised Uma Thurman's acting, as well as the production and costume design.[28]
Batman & Robin was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, as well as categories for Best Make-up and Best Costume. HP Pavilion DV6-1068EL Battery
Alicia Silverstone won theRazzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. Other nominations at the Razzie Awards included Schumacher (Worst Director), George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell (Worst Screen Couple), Akiva Goldsman (Worst Screenplay), both Chris O'Donnell and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Worst Supporting Actor), HP Pavilion DV6-1070EO Battery
Uma Thurman (Worst Supporting Actress), and Billy Corgan (Worst Song for "The End Is the Beginning Is the End"). Batman & Robin also received nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property. Ultimately, out of 11 nominations, Batman & Robin' garnered only one Razzie Award. HP Pavilion DV6-1080EL Battery
Many observers thought Schumacher to have added possible homoerotic innuendo in the storyline.[4] James Berardinelli questioned the "random amount of rubber nipples and camera angle close-ups of the Dynamic Duo's butts and Bat-crotches."[29] Similar to Batman Forever, HP Pavilion DV6-1080EQ Battery
this primarily included the decision to add nipples and enlarged codpieces to Batman and Robin suits. Schumacher stated, "I had no idea that putting nipples on the Batsuit and Robin suit were going to spark international headlines. The bodies of the suits come from ancient Greek statues, which display perfect bodies. HP Pavilion DV6-1080ES Battery
They are anatomically correct."[4] Chris O'Donnell, who portrayed Robin, felt "it wasn't so much the nipples that bothered me. It was the codpiece. The press obviously played it up and made it a big deal, especially with Joel directing. I didn't think twice about the controversy, but going back and looking and seeing some of the pictures, it was very unusual."[4] HP Pavilion DV6-1090EO Battery
Batgirl was given a similarly designed suit, although for unknown reasons hers lacked nipples (it does feature slight points, however these are not as noticeable as Batman and Robin's suits' nipples). George Clooney joked, "Joel Schumacher told me we never made another Batman film because Batman was gay".[30] HP Pavilion DV6-1090ES Battery
Clooney himself has spoken critically of the film, saying, "I think we might have killed the franchise",[31] and called it "a waste of money".
During the filming of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. was impressed with the dailies, prompting them to immediately hire Joel Schumacher to return as director for a sequel. HP Pavilion DV6-1099EF Battery
However, writer Akiva Goldsman turned down an offer to write the script.[9] In late 1996, Warner Bros. and Schumacher hired Mark Protosevich to write the script for a fifth Batman film. A projected mid-1999 release date was announced.[33] Titled Batman Triumphant, HP Pavilion DV6-1100EO Battery
Protosevich's script had the Scarecrow as the main villain. Through the use of his fear toxin, he resurrects the Joker as a hallucination in Batman's mind. Harley Quinn appeared as a supporting character, written as the Joker's daughter.[34] George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell were set to reprise the roles of Batman and Robin. HP Pavilion DV6-1100ES Battery
Following the failure of Batman & Robin, Clooney vowed never to reprise his role.[35]
Warner Bros. decided to consider a live-action Batman Beyond film and an adaptation of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. Warner would then produce whichever idea suited them the most.[36] HP Pavilion DV6-1100SO Battery
Schumacher felt he "owe[d] the Batman culture a real Batman movie. I would go back to the basics and make a dark portrayal of the Dark Knight."[37] He approached Warner Bros. about doing Batman: Year One in mid-1998,[37] but they were more interested in hiring Darren Aronofsky. HP Pavilion DV6-1100SS Battery
Aronofsky and Frank Miller developed a Year One script with Aronofsky to direct, but it was ultimately canceled. Christopher Nolan was eventually hired to helm the nextBatman film in January 2003, resulting in the rebooted Batman Begins (2005).[36]
In "Legends of the Dark Knight", an episode of The New Batman Adventures, HP Pavilion DV6-1100SV Battery
three teenagers discuss their ideas about what Batman is really like. They briefly meet an effeminate youth called Joel (in front of a shoemaker's shop), whose idea of Batman consists mainly of a fascination with the tight rubber suits and aBatmobile that can drive up walls. The teens treat Joel's ideas with utter disdain.[38] HP Pavilion DV6-1101AU Battery
In Watchmen, director Zack Snyder and comic book artist Dave Gibbonschoose to parody the molded muscle and nipple Batsuit design from Batman & Robin for the Ozymandias costume.[39][40] The film is referenced in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Legends of the Dark Mite!", HP Pavilion DV6-1101AX Battery
when Bat-Mite briefly uses his powers to transform Batman's costume into the same suit shown in the Joel Schumacher Batman films, before declaring it "Too icky".[41] The Batman from Batman & Robin later appeared as part of an army of Batmen gathered from across theMultiverse in "Night of the Batmen!", complete with the rubber blue Batsuit. HP Pavilion DV6-1101SO Battery
Artist Phil Noto revealed on his Twitter feed that he had drawn an unused cover forBatgirl No. 1 which referenced the film. The cover showed Stephanie Brown looking over photos of potential Batgirl costumes and writing notes for each of them. A photo of the Alicia Silverstone Batgirl design from Batman & Robin is shown crossed out with the words "Definitely not" scrawled over it.[42] HP Pavilion DV6-1101TU Battery
Unlike Batman Returns explaining Vicki Vale's absence, and Batman Forever briefly referencing the previous relationship between Batman and Catwoman, Dr. Chase Meridian is never mentioned and her absence is never explained in this film. Some film fans dismiss it as the "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome".HP Pavilion DV6-1101TX Battery
The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American war film written and directed by Terrence Malick. Based on the novel by James Jones, it tells a fictional story of the Battle of Mount Austen in World War II. It portrays soldiers of C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, HP Pavilion DV6-1102AU Battery
25th Infantry Division, played by Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, Elias Koteasand Ben Chaplin. The title echoes a line from Rudyard Kipling's poem "Tommy," from Barrack-Room Ballads, in which he calls foot soldiers "the thin red line of 'eroes".[2]
The film marked Malick's return to filmmaking after a 20-year absence. HP Pavilion DV6-1102AX Battery
It features a large ensemble cast, including performances and cameos by notable actors, including Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, George Clooney, John Cusack, Jared Leto, and John Travolta. Reportedly, the first assembled cut took seven months to edit and ran five hours. HP Pavilion DV6-1102TU Battery
By the final cut, all footage of the performances by Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Sheen, Gary Oldman, Bill Pullman, Lukas Haas, Jason Patric,Viggo Mortensen and Mickey Rourke had been removed. The film was scored by Hans Zimmer, John Powell and Klaus Badelt, and shot by John Toll. HP Pavilion DV6-1102TX Battery
The film grossed $98 million against its $52 million budget. Critical response was generally strong and the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound Mixing. HP Pavilion DV6-1103AU Battery
It won the Golden Bear at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival. Martin Scorsese ranked it as his second favorite film of the 1990s on At the Movies. Gene Siskel called it "the greatest contemporary war film I've seen."
When the film opens, U.S. Army Private Witt (Jim Caviezel), is AWOL from his unit and living with the easy-going and seemingly carefree Melanesian natives in the South Pacific. HP Pavilion DV6-1103AX Battery
He is found and imprisoned on a troop carrier by his companyFirst Sergeant, Welsh (Sean Penn). In Welsh's conversation with Witt, it is clear that the private is unenthusiastic about serving in the army. HP Pavilion DV6-1103EE Battery
The men of C Company, 25th Infantry Division have been brought to Guadalcanal as reinforcements in the campaign to secure Henderson Field and seize the island from the Japanese. As they wait in the holds of a Navy transport, they contemplate their lives and the impending invasion. HP Pavilion DV6-1103EI Battery
On deck, battalion commanderLieutenant Colonel Tall (Nick Nolte) talks with his commanding officer, Brigadier General Quintard (John Travolta), about the invasion and its importance. Tall's voice-over reveals that he has been passed over for promotion and this battle may be his last chance to command a victorious operation. HP Pavilion DV6-1103EO Battery
C Company lands on Guadalcanal unopposed and marches to the interior of the island, encountering natives and evidence of the Japanese presence and tactics: the mutilated corpses of intercepted Marines and Rangers scouts. They arrive near Hill 210, a key Japanese position. HP Pavilion DV6-1103TU Battery
The Japanese have placed a bunker housing several machine guns at the top of the hill, giving them full view of the valley below. Any force attempting to climb the hill can be easily cut down by machine-gun fire and mortar rounds.
A brief shelling of the hill begins the next day at dawn. HP Pavilion DV6-1103TX Battery
Shortly after, C Company attempts to take the hill and is repelled by gunfire from the bunker. Among the first killed in the battle is the leader of the attacking platoon, Second Lieutenant Whyte (Jared Leto). During the battle, Colonel Tall orders the company commander, HP Pavilion DV6-1104AU Battery
Captain Staros (Elias Koteas), to take the bunker by frontal assault, at whatever cost. Staros refuses, unwilling to treat his men as cannon fodder. When the two reach a stalemate, Tall decides to join Staros on the front line to see the situation for himself. By the time he arrives, the Japanese resistance seems to have lessened, HP Pavilion DV6-1104AX Battery
and Tall's opinion of Staros seems to have been sealed. Meanwhile, during the battle, Private Witt, having been assigned punitively as a stretcher bearer, asks to rejoin the company, and is permitted to do so.
A small detachment of men perform a reconnaissance mission on Tall's orders to determine the strength of the Japanese bunker. HP Pavilion DV6-1104TU Battery
Private Bell (Ben Chaplin) reports back that there are five machine guns in the bunker. He joins another small detachment of men, led by Captain Gaff (John Cusack), on a flanking mission to take the bunker. The operation is a success and C Company stands poised to overrun one of the last Japanese strongholds on the island. HP Pavilion DV6-1104TX Battery
They are successful in this regard; the Japanese they find are largely malnourished and dying, and put up little resistance.
For their efforts the men are given a week's leave, although not all of them are able to enjoy it fully. HP Pavilion DV6-1105AU Battery
The airfield where they are based comes under Japanese artillery bombardment; Bell, who longs to return to his wife, receives a letter from her, informing him that she has fallen in love with someone else and wishes to divorce; much to his surprise, Captain Staros is relieved of his command by Colonel Tall, HP Pavilion DV6-1105AX Battery
who deems him too soft for the pressures of combat and suggests that he apply for reassignment and become a lawyer in the JAG in Washington; Witt comes across the Melanesians and notices that they have suddenly grown more distrustful of him and quarrel regularly with one another. HP Pavilion DV6-1105EE Battery
The company is sent on patrol up a river but with the indecisive and inexperienced Lieutenant George Band (Paul Gleeson) at its head. As Japanese artillery falls close to their positions, Band orders several men to scout upriver, with Witt volunteering to go along. They encounter an advancing Japanese column and are attacked. HP Pavilion DV6-1105EI Battery
To buy time for Private Fife (Adrien Brody) to go back and inform the rest of the unit, Witt draws away the Japanese but is then encircled by one of their squads, who demand that he surrender. In a moment of bliss and internal calm, he raises his rifle and is gunned down. HP Pavilion DV6-1105EO Battery
The company is able to retreat safely. In the final scene, C Company receives a new commander, Captain Bosche (George Clooney), and boards a waiting LCT, departing from the island.
New York-based producer Bobby Geisler first approached Malick in 1978 and asked him to direct a film adaptation of David Rabe's play In the Boom Boom Room. HP Pavilion DV6-1105ES Battery
Malick declined the offer, but instead discussed the idea of a film about the life of Joseph Merrick, but once word got out about David Lynch's The Elephant Man, he shelved the idea. In 1988, Geisler and John Roberdeau met with Malick in Paris about writing and directing a movie based on D. M. Thomas' 1981 novel The White Hotel. HP Pavilion DV6-1105SL Battery
Malick declined, but told them that he would instead be willing to write either an adaptation of Molière's Tartuffe, or of James Jones' The Thin Red Line. The producers chose the latter and paid Malick $250,000 to write a screenplay.[3]
Malick began adapting The Thin Red Line on January 1, 1989. HP Pavilion DV6-1105TU Battery
Five months later, the producers received his first draft that was 300 pages long. According to an article in Entertainment Weekly, they gained the director's confidence by "catering to his every whim,"[4] providing him with obscure research material, including a book titled Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, an audiotape of Kodo: HP Pavilion DV6-1105TX Battery
Heartbeat Drummers of Japan, information on the Navajo code talkers enlisted by the United States Marine Corps to communicate in their native Navajo language in case Japanese troops intercepted radio transmissions, making his travel plans and helping the director and his wife Michele get a mortgage for their Paris apartment.[5] HP Pavilion DV6-1106AU Battery
The producers spent a lot of time talking with Malick about his vision of the film. Geisler said, "Malick's Guadalcanal would be a Paradise Lost, an Eden, raped by the green poison, as Terry used to call it, of war. Much of the violence was to be portrayed indirectly. A soldier is shot, but rather than showing aSpielbergian bloody face we see a tree explode, HP Pavilion DV6-1106AX Battery
the shredded vegetation, and a gorgeous bird with a broken wing flying out of a tree".[3] Malick spent years working on other projects, including a stage production of Sansho the Bailiff and a script known as The English-Speaker, spending $2 million of the producers' money, half of which for writing.[3] HP Pavilion DV6-1106TX Battery
In 1990, he met with James Jones' daughter Kaylie and his widow Gloria about adapting The Thin Red Line into a film.[6] By January 1995, Geisler and Roberdeau were broke and pressured Malick to decide which one he would complete. They approached Malick's former agent, HP Pavilion DV6-1107AU Battery
Mike Medavoy, who was setting up his own production company, Phoenix Pictures, and he agreed to give them $100,000 to start work on The Thin Red Line.[3] Medavoy had a deal with Sony Pictures and Malick began scouting locations in Panama and Costa Rica before settling on the rain forests of northern Australia.[7] HP Pavilion DV6-1107AX Battery
In April 1997, three months before filming, Sony pulled the plug while crews were building the sets in Queensland because new studio chairman John Calley did not think Malick could make his movie with the proposed $52 million budget.[7] Malick traveled to Los Angeles with Medavoy to pitch the project to various studios. HP Pavilion DV6-1107EL Battery
20th Century Fox agreed to put up $39 million of the budget with the stipulation that Malick cast five movie stars from a list of 10 who were interested.[7] Pioneer Films, a Japanese company, contributed $8 million to the budget, and Phoenix added a further $3 million.
Casting for the film became a hot topic. HP Pavilion DV6-1107TX Battery
When Sean Penn met Malick, he told him, "Give me a dollar and tell me where to show up".[4] Scripts were also sent toRobert De Niro, Robert Duvall and Tom Cruise. In 1995, once word went out that Malick was making another movie after many years, numerous actors approached him. HP Pavilion DV6-1108AU Battery
At Medavoy's home in 1995, he staged a reading with Martin Sheen delivering the screen directions, and Kevin Costner, Will Patton, Peter Berg, Lukas Haas andDermot Mulroney playing the main roles.[3] In June of that year, a five-day workshop was scheduled at Medavoy's with Brad Pitt dropping by and culminating with HP Pavilion DV6-1108AX Battery
Malick putting on the soundtrack of Where Eagles Dare and playing Japanese taiko drums. Malick even met with an interested Johnny Depp at the Book Soup Bistro on the Sunset Strip.[3]
Edward Norton flew out to Austin and met Malick, who had been impressed by the actor's screen test for Primal Fear. HP Pavilion DV6-1108CA Battery
Matthew McConaughey reportedly took a day off filming A Time to Kill to see Malick. Others followed, including William Baldwin, Edward Burns, Josh Hartnett, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Stephen Dorff andLeonardo DiCaprio; the latter flew up from the Mexico set of Romeo + Juliet to meet Malick at the American Airlines lounge in the Austin airport.[5] HP Pavilion DV6-1108TX Battery
Before the casting was finalized, Nicolas Cage had lunch with Malick in Hollywood in February 1996. Malick went off to scout locations and tried calling Cage that summer only to find out that his phone number had been disconnected. Malick felt insulted and refused to even consider Cage for a part.[5] HP Pavilion DV6-1109AU Battery
Malick told Tom Sizemore that he wanted him for a role in his film and the actor agreed. Sizemore, however, was offered a more substantial role in Saving Private Ryan and, when he could not contact Malick for several days, decided to do Steven Spielberg's film instead.[5] HP Pavilion DV6-1109AX Battery
Actors Bill Pullman, Gary Oldman, Mickey Rourke, Lukas Haas and Viggo Mortensen filmed scenes for the movie, but were cut from the final film.[8]
To appease the studio, Malick cast George Clooney in a small role. Geisler remembers, "Terry was worried that having a big star like Clooney play a character who enters the film near the end would be distracting".[4] HP Pavilion DV6-1109TX Battery
James Caviezel, who was cast as Private Witt, credits Malick's casting of him as the turning point in his career.[9] Cinematographer John Toll began talking to Malick in August 1996 several times over the phone about the film.[10] Toll met Malick in September of the same year and was asked to do the film in the beginning of 1997. HP Pavilion DV6-1110EC Battery
Malick and Toll began location scouting in February 1997 and started principal photography in June of that year.[10]
Principal photography
Pre-production went slowly, as Malick had a hard time making decisions. Weeks before filming began, HP Pavilion DV6-1110EG Battery
Malick told Geisler and Roberdeau not to show up in Australia where the film was being made because George Stevens Jr. would be the on-location producer supporting line producer Grant Hill.[3] Malick told them that they had upset the studio for refusing to give up above-the-title production credit to Stevens. HP Pavilion DV6-1110EH Battery
He did not tell them, however, that in 1996 he had a clause inserted in his contract barring the producers from the set.[4] Geisler and Roberdeau were mystified about this behavior; Geisler told Entertainment Weekly, "I didn't think he was capable of betrayal of this magnitude".[4] HP Pavilion DV6-1110EJ Battery
Malick and Toll scouted the actual battlefields on Guadalcanal and shot footage but the logistics were too difficult to shoot the entire film there.[10] The Thin Red Line was filmed predominantly in the Daintree Rainforest and on Bramston Beach, both in north Queensland, Australia.[11] HP Pavilion DV6-1110EL Battery
Filming also took place on Dancer mountain, which had such rough terrain that trailers and production trucks could not make it up the hill. A base camp was set up at its base and roads carved out of the mountain. Transporting 250 actors and 200 crew members up the hill took two hours. HP Pavilion DV6-1110EO Battery
Filming even took place in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California near Santa Catalina Island. Malick's unconventional filming techniques included shooting part of a scene during a bright, sunny morning only to finish it weeks later at sunset. He made a habit of pointing the camera away during an action sequence and focus on a parrot, HP Pavilion DV6-1110EQ Battery
a tree branch or other fauna.[6]Malick's reputation and working methods commanded great respect among the actors, with both Woody Harrelson and John Savage staying on for an extra month after they finished all of their scenes just to watch him at work.[6] He shot for 100 days in Australia using Panavision cameras and lenses, HP Pavilion DV6-1110ES Battery
24 days in the Solomon Islands and three days in the United States. The decision not to shoot on the island of Guadalcanal was a practical one: It has a 50% rate of malaria and it lacked logistical feasibility. As director of photography John Toll said, "It's still a bit difficult to get on and off the island, and we had some scenes that involved 200 or 300 extras. HP Pavilion DV6-1110ET Battery
We would have had to bring everybody to Guadalcanal, and financially it just didn't make sense".[12]
Post-production
In addition to the cast seen in the final cut of the film, Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Sheen, Gary Oldman, Bill Pullman, Lukas Haas, Viggo Mortensen and Mickey Rourke also performed, but their scenes were eventually cut. HP Pavilion DV6-1110EZ Battery
Editor Leslie Jones was on location for five months and rarely saw Malick, who left her to her own devices.[13] After principal photography wrapped, she came back with a five-hour first cut and spent seven months editing, with Thornton contributing three hours of narrative voice-over material. HP Pavilion DV6-1110SS Battery
It was at this point that editor Billy Weber came on board and they spent 13 months in post-production and the last four months mixing the film, using four Avid machines with a fifth added at one point.[13] There were no preview screenings but several in-house ones, the largest of which was attended by 15 people for marketing executives.[13] HP Pavilion DV6-1110TX Battery
The editors faced the challenge of blending footage of veteran actors with less-experienced ones, integrating the many cameos, and the voice-overs. According to Jones, "Malick removed scenes with dialogue whenever possible, with the final film varying greatly from the original concept".[13] HP Pavilion DV6-1111TX Battery
Four months after principal photography, Malick invited Toll to a rough cut screening of the film.[10] In December 1998, Toll did the first color correction at the lab prior to the film's release in North America.[10]
The editing also resulted in many of the well-known cast members being on screen for only a brief period: HP Pavilion DV6-1112TX Battery
for example, John Travolta and George Clooney's appearances are little more than cameos, yet Clooney's name appears prominently in the marketing of the movie. The unfinished film was screened for the New York press on December 1998 and Brody attended a screening to find that his originally significant role, "to carry the movie",[14] HP Pavilion DV6-1113TX Battery
as he put it, had been reduced to two lines and approximately five minutes of screen time. On April 15, 2001, an interview with Brody revealed that he was still upset over the removal of his work. He expressed his opinions in an interview with the London newspaper The Independent:HP Pavilion DV6-1114TX Battery
I was so focused and professional, I gave everything to it, and then to not receive everything ... in terms of witnessing my own work. It was extremely unpleasant because I'd already begun the press for a film that I wasn't really in. Terry obviously changed the entire concept of the film. HP Pavilion DV6-1115EE Battery
I had never experienced anything like that... You know the expression 'Don't believe the hype'? Well, you shouldn't.
Malick was upset that the studio screened his unfinished version for critics and Penn ended up helping him in the editing room, shaping the final version.[4] HP Pavilion DV6-1115EI Battery
Malick spent three more months and cut 45 additional minutes from the film. The director refused to subject his film to test screenings before delivering his final cut.[16] After Geisler and Roberdeau told their story to Vanity Fair magazine, HP Pavilion DV6-1115ES Battery
Medavoy's attorneys declared them in breach of contract and threatened to remove their names from the film unless they agreed to do no future interviews until after the Academy Awards. HP Pavilion DV6-1115ET Battery,HP Pavilion DV6-1115EZ Battery,HP Pavilion DV6-1115TX Battery
No comments:
Post a Comment