Apocolypse Again and More

If you thought that Francis Ford Coppola's classic Apocalypse Now was already a lengthy film, you will be surprised to hear that the director's cut of the film has an addditional 53 minutes of footage, making Apocalypse Now a whopping three-hours and 17-minutes.

The new version of the seminal Vietnam war film is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera in May. Festival president Gilles Jacob told members of the press Coppola chose to re-edit the film with the new footage 21 years after its release, and just one year after the first visit of an American president to Vietnam, "to show that this work has lost none of its force or disturbing impact".

A Curried Hamlet

Tarsem, the music video director who turned his attention to the big screen with The Cell, is now looking to recreate a familiar story with an Indian twist. Aditya is about a Rajput prince avenging his father's murder. If this tale sounds vaguely familiar, it's because the movie is based on Hamlet.

Hrithik Roshan, who recently grabbed best actor and male newcomer at the 46th Manikchand Filmfare Awards for his role in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai will play the prince. Production for Aditya is set to begin soon in Los Angeles.

Shatner Provides Sober Living

Actor William Shatner has decided to purchase a home in honor of his late wife, who drowned in the couple's swimming pool over a year ago. The Nerine Shatner Friendly House will be used as a ``sober living'' facility, which will serve as a residential home for nearly a dozen recovering female alcoholics.

Shatner discovered his wife's body at the bottom of their pool in August 1999, after the former model dove in, hit her head on the bottom of the pool and drowned. An autopsy revealed her blood-alcohol level was 0.27 percent, more than three times the legal limit for driving. Shatner told reporters that he wanted to find the best way to salvage some meaning out of the experience, and felt he could do that by helping people in his wife's name.

Swank Keeps Busy

Oscar winner Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry) has signed up to be Al Pacino's next leading lady in Alcon Entertainment's psychological thriller Insomnia. The film is a remake of a 1997 Norwegian film of the same name, about a police officer who accidentally kills his partner during a murder investigation in a small Alaska town.

Swank is most recently remembered for her work in The Gift. This year, Swank will soon begin shooting the romantic comedy Chambermaid for writer-director John Hughes, and just recently finished up production of The Affair of the Necklace.

February 19, 2001

Kramer Dies From Pneumonia

Those close to Stanley Kramer claim he was a man who believed very strongly in social conscience issues. The 87 year old whose nearly three dozen films included such classics as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Judgment at Nuremberg and Inherit the Wind died Monday at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills from pneumonia.

In all, his films drew 80 Academy Award nominations and 16 Oscars. Three - High Noon, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World made the American Film Institute's list of 100 best movies of all time. Kramer was nominated as best director three times, and in 1962 was presented the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for outstanding work. He also received the Producers Guild of America's David O. Selznick Life Achievement Award.

Morton Scores As Cruise's New Lead

Samantha Morton, recently honored by the London Film Critics Circle for her work in Sweet and Lowdown, has landed the female lead in Steven Spielberg's upcoming sci-fi drama Minority Report, opposite Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell. In the futuristic film, Morton's character assists a detective (Cruise) who is fleeing from a colleague (Farrell) who plans to charge him with a murder he hasn't committed. Production is expected to begin this spring.

The British actress recently finished starring with Arthur Miller in Eden, and is about to begin work on the Lynne Ramsay film Morvern Callar.

Barrymore Loses Home to Blaze

The home of actress Drew Barrymore and her fiance, comedian Tom Green, was badly damaged in a fire early on Sunday, but no one was injured, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, who claims the fire took over fifty firefighters nearly an hour to extinguish. Both Barrymore and Greene were home at the time but managed to escape the fire unharmed.

Damage to the two-story 3,500-square-foot home, located just north of Beverly Hills, was estimated at $700,000, according to the LAFD, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Paramount Giant Koch Passes

Producer Howard W. Koch, former president of production of Paramount Pictures and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, died Friday at his home in Beverly Hills of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 84. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Ruth; his daughter, Melinda Blinker; his son, producer Howard W. Koch Jr.; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Koch earned many honors over a nearly 65 year span in the film industry including the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1989. In addition to his years as a studio executive, he produced eight Oscar shows as well as such films as The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Airplane! and Ghost.

February 12, 2001

Big Weekend For "Hannibal"

North American movie-goers showed they had a taste for the horrifying, when they ran to theatres by the thousands to see MGM/Universal Pictures' Hannibal this weekend. The Ridley Scott thriller dished up a staggering boxoffice estimate of $58 million, devouring several major boxoffice records.

Hannibal enjoyed the second-biggest non-holiday three-day opening weekend in history, second only to 20th Century Fox's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, which debuted with $64.8 million in summer 1999. The Silence of the Lambs sequel had the biggest opening for an R-rated film, topping Dimension's $42.3 million Scary Movie.

Cruise Calls It Quits With Kidman

All single women will be eager to learn that Tom Cruise is soon to be a single man again. Yes, Hollywood has been buzzing with the news since last Wednesday, when Cruise filed for divorce from his wife Nicole Kidman two days after the famous couple formally separated and only two months after they renewed their vows on their 10th wedding anniversary.

A representative for Kidman told British reporters that Tom's petition for divorce came as a complete shock to her.

Drew To Win First Barrymore

Coming from a lineage of Hollywood royalty, Charlie's Angels star Drew Barrymore will be presented with a prestigious new award from the Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild. Miss Barrymore's award is unique in that the new statues are named in honor of her famous acting family.

The H.M.A.and H.S. Guild unanimously voted 25 year old granddaughter of actor John Barrymore the receipient of the inaugural award, claiming "she has had a profound impact on the artistry of hair and makeup in the entertainment industry". 23 other "Barrymores" will be handed out during the ceremony March 17th.

Gibson and Kinnear Set for "Soldiers"

Greg Kinnear and Mel Gibson will be heading to California and Georgia in March to begin shooting the Paramount Pictures/Icon Prods.We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young (aka Lost Patrol) for director/writer Randall Wallace. The story takes place in 1965, and focuses on 80 U.S. Air Calvary soldiers who find themselves surrounded by enemy soldiers after being airlifted into a clearing in Vietnam's Ia Drang Valley.

Kinnear is slated to play Maj. Bruce Crandall, an all-American college baseball star and devoted military man who is called upon by Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Gibson) to start up the Air Cavalry unit. The cast also includes Chris Klein, Barry Pepper, Sam Elliott, Madeleine Stowe and Dylan Walsh.

February 5, 2001

It's All Pie For Levy

Second City veteran Eugene Levy is enjoying a new level of success these days. His recent satire Best In Show (Levy co-wrote the script) just earned itself a nod from the Golden Globes, and looks to see some attention at the Oscars this year as well.

Levy, who also co-starred in the dog film, has several other projects lined up including Down To Earth, Chris Rock's modernized version of the 70s Warren Beatty film Heaven Can Wait, Serendipity with John Cusack, and the sequel to American Pie, which is rumored to be a seven-figure deal for Levy.

Weaver Signs Up For "Alien 5"

A fifth time as Ripley, believe it or not!

That's what fans of Sigourney Weaver are saying since the announcement was made this last weekend that Weaver will reprise her role as Ripley in the upcoming fifth installment of the Alien story, aptly titled Alien 5. A 15 million pound deal is what made the offer so sweeet for the 51 year old actress, who will also be executive producer for this project.

DePalma Pays Homage To French Film Noir

Brian DePalma says his next project will pay homage to the French film noir of the '40s. His $35 million thriller Femme Fatale has lined up Antonio Banderas for the lead role of a paparazzo. DePalma has yet to cast Banderas' leading lady, but after a four month search, sources close to the director say he is on the verge of making a choice.

Femme Fatale is set to start production in mid-March, and will be shot in Paris and Cannes.

An Ironic Twist of Censorship

If the Marquis de Sade were alive today he would most likely be laughing at the irony of it all. Outraged parents sent letters of complaint to Fox Searchlight Pictures about the Quills website, which until recently bore some pretty controversial links and adult material including the works of de Sade himself. The site was divided into Vice and Virtue sections, with the Vice section leading to steamy excerpts from de Sade's writings and links to porn bible sites, of all things, which suggested (among other atrocities) that God wants everyone to have fantastic sex.

Quills, directed by Philip Kaufman, looks at the last days of the clever, yet considerably naughty 18th century aristocrat known for such risque novels as Justine and The 120 Days of Sodom. The highly-praised film is looking at a possible Best Picture nomination with Geoffrey Rush among the favorites to grab himself a Best Actor nod.