Christopher Eberts, a former Hollywood studio executive and independent producer, has pleaded guilty to fraud and money-laundering charges brought by the U.S. attorney in Peoria, Illinois, according to a legal filing entered before the U.S. District Court on March 26. Eberts, 49, had been indicted in 2013 by a grand jury in Illinois on 10 courts of wire fraud and three counts of money-laundering. The government claimed that Eberts — who got producing credits on several movies between 1999 and 2009, including The Punisher and Lord of War — took over $615,000 from a retired firefighter, Jeff Elliott
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- 4/3/2015
- by Alex Ben Block
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“My favorite films growing up were the works of John Carpenter,” Peter A. Dowling, writer and director of the feature flick Stag Night, told Dread as we discussed his film, which premieres this coming Monday, October 11th, at 9:30pm, as selected by Rachel Belofsky’s Screamfest L.A.!
“Halloween is one of my all time favorites,” continued Dowling of his love for Carpenter’s body of work, “and Assault on Precinct 13 is a great exercise in sustained suspense in a single location, as was The Thing. Actually, until writing Stag Night (review here) and Flightplan, which takes place entirely on a plane, I hadn’t realized how much I must have learned from Carpenter. Being a first-time director I knew there was an unwritten - or maybe written by you guys,” he laughed, “formula for a low-budget horror film, and that is something horrible happens to a small...
“Halloween is one of my all time favorites,” continued Dowling of his love for Carpenter’s body of work, “and Assault on Precinct 13 is a great exercise in sustained suspense in a single location, as was The Thing. Actually, until writing Stag Night (review here) and Flightplan, which takes place entirely on a plane, I hadn’t realized how much I must have learned from Carpenter. Being a first-time director I knew there was an unwritten - or maybe written by you guys,” he laughed, “formula for a low-budget horror film, and that is something horrible happens to a small...
- 10/7/2010
- by SeanD.
- DreadCentral.com
I got an email last night about a trailer starring Michael Jai White and Kimbo Slice, and immediately had to check this out. Those 2 dudes in the same movie had to of created some type of ripple effect in the time continuum. You can check out the Small role of Kimbo Slice, and the ultra ass kicking that Michael Jai White is handing out in this trailer! Lets also mention that it features a role from Dante Basco, aka Rufio!
Here is the synopsis for your reading pleasure:
Ex-con Isaiah Bone (Michael Jai White, Spawn & Black Dynamite) is the new force in La’s underground street fighting scene. When he takes down the reigning champ, the local mob boss wants to enter Bone in a series of high-stakes international matches. Bone’s refusal sets off an explosive showdown between two powerful enemies with everything at stake.
Blood and Bone is...
Here is the synopsis for your reading pleasure:
Ex-con Isaiah Bone (Michael Jai White, Spawn & Black Dynamite) is the new force in La’s underground street fighting scene. When he takes down the reigning champ, the local mob boss wants to enter Bone in a series of high-stakes international matches. Bone’s refusal sets off an explosive showdown between two powerful enemies with everything at stake.
Blood and Bone is...
- 7/16/2009
- by Scott
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
To say progress on The I Scream Man has been an uphill crawl is an understatement. Things are looking positive, however, for the horror film we detailed in 2007 here . Director J.T. Mollner confirmed a bit of news that floated our way over the weekend. John Schneider and Christopher Eberts ( Lucky Number Slevin , Stag Night ) are on board as producers. "I am locked as director," says Mollner. "Mikos Zavros will be acting in it, and the two of us will be fine tuning the script. Either way, I Scream Man is still alive." There have been a slight casting adjustment. Schneider is now set to play the heroine's father, a roll that once went to Fred Ward. Crispin Glover and Dee Wallace, who have been on since the beginning, are still locked in....
- 3/23/2009
- shocktillyoudrop.com
It's been a long while since we've heard anything about Crispin Glover's next genre project, I Scream Man, but an update on the film's progress has just hit, and as always it's our duty to keep you in the loop.
Shock Till You Drop spoke with director J.T. Mollner about the project this weekend and he confirmed that he will indeed be directing the movie and that some more cast members have signed on including John Schneider, Christopher Eberts, and Mikos Zavros (who will also be helping Mollner with the script).
Schneider has replaced Fred Ward and will be playing the heroine's father, and Crispin Glover and Dee Wallace are still very much attached, with Glover playing the I Scream Man himself.
Synopsis:
"A small, sleepy town has its share of secrets. In Hooper, Wyoming, the children have their own dark secret. When a psychologically bruised street vendor rolls...
Shock Till You Drop spoke with director J.T. Mollner about the project this weekend and he confirmed that he will indeed be directing the movie and that some more cast members have signed on including John Schneider, Christopher Eberts, and Mikos Zavros (who will also be helping Mollner with the script).
Schneider has replaced Fred Ward and will be playing the heroine's father, and Crispin Glover and Dee Wallace are still very much attached, with Glover playing the I Scream Man himself.
Synopsis:
"A small, sleepy town has its share of secrets. In Hooper, Wyoming, the children have their own dark secret. When a psychologically bruised street vendor rolls...
- 3/23/2009
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
- #97. Black Water Transit Director: Tony Kaye Writer: Matt Chapman (Runaway Jury)Producers: Michael Cerenzie, Christopher Eberts, Kia Jam, Robert Katz, Paul Parmar, Arnold RifkinDistributor: Rights Available. Capitol Films The Gist: New Orleans is a city in chaos, picking up the pieces after hurricane Katrina. Black Water Transit's owner, Jack Vermillion (Laurence Fishburne) is trying to break away from the life of crime he grew up in and conduct a legitimate business. Jack is tortured by thoughts of his only son Gary, who is in prison endangering his own life with his self destructive behavior and aggressive attitude towards the other inmates. When the mysterious Earl Pike (Karl Urban) approaches Jack to ship an enormous stash of guns, he decides to expose Earl to District Attorney Schick in exchange for Gary's protection. Jack's plan, however, is jeopardised by the fact that Sardoonah (Brittany Snow), a prostitute he has taken under his wing,
- 1/5/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
NEW YORK -- Jeffrey Jones must have some really bad karma from a past life. The talented character has long made a specialty out of being abused on film, as typified by his iconic performance as the aggrieved principal in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." His streak continues with this urban variation of Caddyshack, in which he plays the snooty head of an exclusive private golf club. Whether being kicked in the groin, tackled by a flying obese man, having his car blown up or getting his face buried in doggie doo, Jones handles it with his usual slow burn. Who's Your Caddy? opened Friday without being screened in advance for the press.
The bare-bones plot revolves around the efforts of C-Note (Antwan Big Boi Patton, half of the R&B duo OutKast), a highly successful rap impresario, to join the ranks of the Carolina Pines Country Club. Naturally, its snobbish president Cummings (Jones) will have none of it, especially since the club is bidding to become the home of the next U.S. Open.
That doesn't stop the intrepid C-Note, who has a highly personal reason, not explained until late in the film, for his desire to join. He promptly buys a mansion adjoining the course, essentially blackmailing his way into the club via such tactics as filming his latest rap video with its scantily clad ladies in full view of the golfers.
It isn't long before he and his posse wreak havoc with the staid environment, packing heat and riding around in a tricked-up, Hummer golf cart. Cummings hires a beautiful black lawyer to help him oust the interlopers, not counting on her becoming attracted to the dashing rapper.
The film is strictly formulaic with its vulgar humor, managing to stereotype blacks, whites, gays and even little people to boot. Both a grudge-match polo game and the inevitable climactic round on the links register with little impact, and most of the film's humor is generated, literally out of his ass, by the big-boned Faizon Love as C-Note's particularly flatulent sidekick.
Garrett Morris has a cameo as a Johnnie Cochran-like lawyer, and hot rapper Lil Wayne shows up briefly as well. Patton has a subdued but likable screen presence, and Jenifer Lewis has nice moments as C-Note's no-nonsense mom. But ultimately this is utterly forgettable stuff, not even managing to fulfill its mandate of mindless summer fun.
WHO'S YOUR CADDY?
An MGM release
An Our Stories Films and Dimension Films presentation of an Ascendant Pictures/Cheyenne Enterprises/Edmonds Entertainment/Eleven Eleven films/Our Stories Films production
Credits:
Director: Don Michael Paul
Screenwriters: Don Michael Paul, Bradley Allenstein, Robert Henny
Producers: Christopher Eberts, Tracey Edmonds, Kia Jam, Arnold Rifkin
Executive producers: Shakim Compere, Ross M. Dinerstein, Queen Latifah, Marvin Peart, Chris Roberts, Bobby Schwartz
Director of photography: Thomas L. Callaway
Production designer: Paul Luther Jackson
Music: Jon Lee
Co-producers: John Duffy, Michael LaFetra
Costume designer: Jayme Bohn
Editor: Vanick Moradian
Cast:
Cummings: Jeffrey Jones: Shannon: Tamala Jones
Daisy: Jenifer Lewis
Wilson: Andy Milonakis
Dread: Finesse Mitchell
C-Note: Antwan Big Boi Patton
Lady G: Sherri Shepherd
Big Large: Faizon Love
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
The bare-bones plot revolves around the efforts of C-Note (Antwan Big Boi Patton, half of the R&B duo OutKast), a highly successful rap impresario, to join the ranks of the Carolina Pines Country Club. Naturally, its snobbish president Cummings (Jones) will have none of it, especially since the club is bidding to become the home of the next U.S. Open.
That doesn't stop the intrepid C-Note, who has a highly personal reason, not explained until late in the film, for his desire to join. He promptly buys a mansion adjoining the course, essentially blackmailing his way into the club via such tactics as filming his latest rap video with its scantily clad ladies in full view of the golfers.
It isn't long before he and his posse wreak havoc with the staid environment, packing heat and riding around in a tricked-up, Hummer golf cart. Cummings hires a beautiful black lawyer to help him oust the interlopers, not counting on her becoming attracted to the dashing rapper.
The film is strictly formulaic with its vulgar humor, managing to stereotype blacks, whites, gays and even little people to boot. Both a grudge-match polo game and the inevitable climactic round on the links register with little impact, and most of the film's humor is generated, literally out of his ass, by the big-boned Faizon Love as C-Note's particularly flatulent sidekick.
Garrett Morris has a cameo as a Johnnie Cochran-like lawyer, and hot rapper Lil Wayne shows up briefly as well. Patton has a subdued but likable screen presence, and Jenifer Lewis has nice moments as C-Note's no-nonsense mom. But ultimately this is utterly forgettable stuff, not even managing to fulfill its mandate of mindless summer fun.
WHO'S YOUR CADDY?
An MGM release
An Our Stories Films and Dimension Films presentation of an Ascendant Pictures/Cheyenne Enterprises/Edmonds Entertainment/Eleven Eleven films/Our Stories Films production
Credits:
Director: Don Michael Paul
Screenwriters: Don Michael Paul, Bradley Allenstein, Robert Henny
Producers: Christopher Eberts, Tracey Edmonds, Kia Jam, Arnold Rifkin
Executive producers: Shakim Compere, Ross M. Dinerstein, Queen Latifah, Marvin Peart, Chris Roberts, Bobby Schwartz
Director of photography: Thomas L. Callaway
Production designer: Paul Luther Jackson
Music: Jon Lee
Co-producers: John Duffy, Michael LaFetra
Costume designer: Jayme Bohn
Editor: Vanick Moradian
Cast:
Cummings: Jeffrey Jones: Shannon: Tamala Jones
Daisy: Jenifer Lewis
Wilson: Andy Milonakis
Dread: Finesse Mitchell
C-Note: Antwan Big Boi Patton
Lady G: Sherri Shepherd
Big Large: Faizon Love
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 7/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY -- "Lucky Number Slevin" is a crime thriller-cum-con job that might be too slick and clever for its own good.
The movie risks alienating its audience initially with a welter of confusing story lines, dead bodies and random characters, only for the film to grandly pull together the missing pieces by fadeout. So here's an audience's dilemma: You know you've been had, but do you like it -- or not?
The guess is a goodly number of moviegoers will like it, though there will be those refrigerator moments -- you know, when you get home, open the fridge and suddenly say to yourself, "Hey, wait a minute!" But no matter how badly the movie cons you, you must admit that the film is stylish as hell with sharp dialogue, a tongue-in-cheek plot and visual and editing razzle-dazzle.
The Weinstein Co. might have gotten lucky as boxoffice looks promising, especially given a cast headed by Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley.
Scottish director Paul McGuigan and writer Jason Smilovic have collaborated on a crime doozy that, after initial confusion, seems to center on a classic case of mistaken identity. A number of killings, a strange scene in an airport between Willis and a sleepy passenger and a flashback to a long-ago horse race inspire that initial confusion. Then the real story takes over with the promise that those early elements will become clear in time.
A fellow named Slevin (Hartnett) comes to New York to visit an old friend.
Only the friend has vanished from his apartment. Slevin spends the night, then meets the cute and flirty girl next door, Lindsey (Lucy Liu). But his luck doesn't hold. Two goons show up at the door and absolutely insist their boss wants to see him.
He protests that he is not the real occupant of the apartment, but -- more bad luck -- he can't prove his identity since a mugger took his wallet the day before.
The Boss (Freeman) claims that the apartment occupant owes him a small fortune. He will forgive the debt if Slevin kills the son of underworld rival Schlomo (Kingsley). While he is contemplating his offer, similar emissaries from Schlomo come to the unlucky apartment and drag him off to see their boss. He is a Jewish gangster who also insists Slevin owes him a lot of money -- and he wants it now. All the while, a shadowy figure, clearly playing both sides against each other, lurks in the background. This would be the notorious assassin Goodkat (Willis).
Nothing, of course, is quite what it seems, which you know all along, but what you do not realize -- and this is the movie's greatest cheat -- is that some scenes are phony. Yes, the filmmakers violate the usual unspoken agreement made with audiences by showing scenes that later turn out never to have occurred. In fairness, from the beginning, the movie claims the ground of utter genre fiction. Characters even chat about other thrillers, movies ranging from James Bond to Hitchcock's "North By Northwest".
Message: Nothing is real here.
The primary enjoyment in this film is watching talented actors having fun with far-out roles. Hartnett is terrific as the unlucky Slevin, who turns tables and proves he can play with the bad boys at their own game. Liu is refreshingly winsome as the girl next door. Freeman, Kingsley and Willis don't so much chew the scenery as dine delicately on the decor. It's great fun to watch.
Tech credits are aces. The film looks stylish, sleek and up-to-date despite characters and subplots that harken back to "The Sting".
LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN
The Weinstein Co.
FilmEngine/Ascendant Pictures/Capitol Films/VIP 4 Medienfonds
Credits:
Director: Paul McGuigan
Screenwriter: Jason Smilovic
Producers: Christopher Eberts, Kia Jam, Robert Kravis, Tyler Mitchell, Anthony Rhulen, Chris Roberts
Executive producers: Don Carmody, A.J. Dix, William Shivley
Director of photography: Peter Sova
Production designer: Francois Seguin
Music: Joshua Ralph
Costumes: Odette Gadoury
Editor: Andrew Hulme
Cast:
Mr. Goodkat: Bruce Willis
Slevin: Josh Hartnett
Schlomo: Ben Kingsley
The Boss: Morgan Freeman
Lindsey: Lucy Liu
Brikowsky: Stanley Tucci
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 109 minutes...
The movie risks alienating its audience initially with a welter of confusing story lines, dead bodies and random characters, only for the film to grandly pull together the missing pieces by fadeout. So here's an audience's dilemma: You know you've been had, but do you like it -- or not?
The guess is a goodly number of moviegoers will like it, though there will be those refrigerator moments -- you know, when you get home, open the fridge and suddenly say to yourself, "Hey, wait a minute!" But no matter how badly the movie cons you, you must admit that the film is stylish as hell with sharp dialogue, a tongue-in-cheek plot and visual and editing razzle-dazzle.
The Weinstein Co. might have gotten lucky as boxoffice looks promising, especially given a cast headed by Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley.
Scottish director Paul McGuigan and writer Jason Smilovic have collaborated on a crime doozy that, after initial confusion, seems to center on a classic case of mistaken identity. A number of killings, a strange scene in an airport between Willis and a sleepy passenger and a flashback to a long-ago horse race inspire that initial confusion. Then the real story takes over with the promise that those early elements will become clear in time.
A fellow named Slevin (Hartnett) comes to New York to visit an old friend.
Only the friend has vanished from his apartment. Slevin spends the night, then meets the cute and flirty girl next door, Lindsey (Lucy Liu). But his luck doesn't hold. Two goons show up at the door and absolutely insist their boss wants to see him.
He protests that he is not the real occupant of the apartment, but -- more bad luck -- he can't prove his identity since a mugger took his wallet the day before.
The Boss (Freeman) claims that the apartment occupant owes him a small fortune. He will forgive the debt if Slevin kills the son of underworld rival Schlomo (Kingsley). While he is contemplating his offer, similar emissaries from Schlomo come to the unlucky apartment and drag him off to see their boss. He is a Jewish gangster who also insists Slevin owes him a lot of money -- and he wants it now. All the while, a shadowy figure, clearly playing both sides against each other, lurks in the background. This would be the notorious assassin Goodkat (Willis).
Nothing, of course, is quite what it seems, which you know all along, but what you do not realize -- and this is the movie's greatest cheat -- is that some scenes are phony. Yes, the filmmakers violate the usual unspoken agreement made with audiences by showing scenes that later turn out never to have occurred. In fairness, from the beginning, the movie claims the ground of utter genre fiction. Characters even chat about other thrillers, movies ranging from James Bond to Hitchcock's "North By Northwest".
Message: Nothing is real here.
The primary enjoyment in this film is watching talented actors having fun with far-out roles. Hartnett is terrific as the unlucky Slevin, who turns tables and proves he can play with the bad boys at their own game. Liu is refreshingly winsome as the girl next door. Freeman, Kingsley and Willis don't so much chew the scenery as dine delicately on the decor. It's great fun to watch.
Tech credits are aces. The film looks stylish, sleek and up-to-date despite characters and subplots that harken back to "The Sting".
LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN
The Weinstein Co.
FilmEngine/Ascendant Pictures/Capitol Films/VIP 4 Medienfonds
Credits:
Director: Paul McGuigan
Screenwriter: Jason Smilovic
Producers: Christopher Eberts, Kia Jam, Robert Kravis, Tyler Mitchell, Anthony Rhulen, Chris Roberts
Executive producers: Don Carmody, A.J. Dix, William Shivley
Director of photography: Peter Sova
Production designer: Francois Seguin
Music: Joshua Ralph
Costumes: Odette Gadoury
Editor: Andrew Hulme
Cast:
Mr. Goodkat: Bruce Willis
Slevin: Josh Hartnett
Schlomo: Ben Kingsley
The Boss: Morgan Freeman
Lindsey: Lucy Liu
Brikowsky: Stanley Tucci
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 109 minutes...
- 1/22/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Echo Bridge Entertainment has acquired all North American rights to the feature film The Big White, starring Robin Williams, Holly Hunter and Woody Harrelson, managing partner Michael Rosenblatt said Tuesday. The film was directed by Mark Mylod from a screenplay by Collin Friesen and produced by Ascendant Pictures' Christopher Eberts, Chris Roberts, Kia Jam and John Schimmel. It was acquired from Capitol Films in a deal negotiated by Ronna Wallace on behalf of Capitol's Jane Barclay. It screens Friday at AFI Fest 2005.
- 11/2/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
AUSTIN -- On paper, it sounds like a carbon copy of "Fargo": A desperate man in a snow-packed small town turns to crime in an effort to avoid bankruptcy; his plan is thwarted by bad luck, oddball goons and an investigator who simply won't quit.
The similarities multiply from there, as "The Big White" also traffics in black humor leavened by a very un-noirlike sympathy for its protagonists. There are even some funny accents, though this film's sense of place is a good deal shakier than that of its predecessor. Where the Coen brothers' film was sure-footed in its odd blend of tones, "The Big White" never completely finds its balance.
The film is screening at the Fantastic Fest in Austin.
Leading an unusually strong indie cast, Robin Williams plays Paul Barnell, a travel agent whose wife, Margaret (Holly Hunter), suffers from some behavioral problem (possibly Tourette Syndrome) that the couple's health insurance won't cover. When he finds a dead body in a dumpster, Paul tries to pass it off as his long-lost brother and collect on a million-dollar life-insurance policy.
Naturally, Paul's brother chooses this moment to end his five-year absence, while the criminals who stashed the body to begin with track it to Paul. Both parties make Paul's life terribly awkward while a suspicious claims adjuster (Giovanni Ribisi, looking a bit like a corpse himself) sniffs around.
The film shows its nasty sense of humor early on, as Paul brutalizes the cadaver to fit it into a refrigerator. Soon the violence spreads to living victims, with beatings dished out at one point or another to much of the cast. The most successful bit of slapstick comes from Margaret, who bewilders an intruder with a barrage of unexpected projectiles.
(The screenplay is littered with suggestions that Margaret's illness is imaginary, but this is never resolved. Whatever the case, Hunter is always active with some sort of business, whether cursing at a friendly neighborhood kid or bunny-hopping from room to room.)
Like so much of the film, the production design is deliberately quirky -- from an all-white insurance company office to the tacky '70s decor in the Barnell home. The look doesn't quite ring true, and neither do many of the screenplay's little curveballs: the kidnapper who frets over the meals he cooks for his hostage, the girlfriend who works for a psychic hotline, the old-lady neighbor who wields a Ted Nugent-sized bowhunting rig. Strangely, one of the film's most conventional elements is its score, which was penned by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh.
At heart, the film wants to be about a husband who loves his wife so much that he'll do bad, stupid things to provide for her. But the mainstream audiences who most would identify with this theme are likely to be alienated by the movie's violence and quirks, while the indie/art house market might not see anything here they haven't seen done better elsewhere. Distributors might lure a crowd with big names and slapstick, but few viewers will recommend "The Big White" to friends with much enthusiasm.
THE BIG WHITE
Ascendant Pictures
Credits: Director: Mark Mylod; Screenwriter: Collin Friesen; Producers: Christopher Eberts, David Faigenblum, Chris Roberts; Executive producers: Michael Birnbaum, Andreas Grosch, Sharon Harel, Kia Jam, Hannah Leader, John Schimmel, Andreas Schmid; Director of photography: James Glennon; Production designer: Jon Billington; Music: Mark Mothersbaugh; Co-producer: Elaine Dysinger; Costumes: Darena Snowe; Editor: Julie Monroe. Cast: Paul Barnell: Robin Williams; Margaret Barnell: Holly Hunter; Ted: Giovanni Ribisi; Tiffany: Alison Lohman; Gary: Tim Blake Nelson; Jimbo: W. Earl Brown; Raymond: Woody Harrelson.
MPAA rating R, running time 104 minutes.
The similarities multiply from there, as "The Big White" also traffics in black humor leavened by a very un-noirlike sympathy for its protagonists. There are even some funny accents, though this film's sense of place is a good deal shakier than that of its predecessor. Where the Coen brothers' film was sure-footed in its odd blend of tones, "The Big White" never completely finds its balance.
The film is screening at the Fantastic Fest in Austin.
Leading an unusually strong indie cast, Robin Williams plays Paul Barnell, a travel agent whose wife, Margaret (Holly Hunter), suffers from some behavioral problem (possibly Tourette Syndrome) that the couple's health insurance won't cover. When he finds a dead body in a dumpster, Paul tries to pass it off as his long-lost brother and collect on a million-dollar life-insurance policy.
Naturally, Paul's brother chooses this moment to end his five-year absence, while the criminals who stashed the body to begin with track it to Paul. Both parties make Paul's life terribly awkward while a suspicious claims adjuster (Giovanni Ribisi, looking a bit like a corpse himself) sniffs around.
The film shows its nasty sense of humor early on, as Paul brutalizes the cadaver to fit it into a refrigerator. Soon the violence spreads to living victims, with beatings dished out at one point or another to much of the cast. The most successful bit of slapstick comes from Margaret, who bewilders an intruder with a barrage of unexpected projectiles.
(The screenplay is littered with suggestions that Margaret's illness is imaginary, but this is never resolved. Whatever the case, Hunter is always active with some sort of business, whether cursing at a friendly neighborhood kid or bunny-hopping from room to room.)
Like so much of the film, the production design is deliberately quirky -- from an all-white insurance company office to the tacky '70s decor in the Barnell home. The look doesn't quite ring true, and neither do many of the screenplay's little curveballs: the kidnapper who frets over the meals he cooks for his hostage, the girlfriend who works for a psychic hotline, the old-lady neighbor who wields a Ted Nugent-sized bowhunting rig. Strangely, one of the film's most conventional elements is its score, which was penned by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh.
At heart, the film wants to be about a husband who loves his wife so much that he'll do bad, stupid things to provide for her. But the mainstream audiences who most would identify with this theme are likely to be alienated by the movie's violence and quirks, while the indie/art house market might not see anything here they haven't seen done better elsewhere. Distributors might lure a crowd with big names and slapstick, but few viewers will recommend "The Big White" to friends with much enthusiasm.
THE BIG WHITE
Ascendant Pictures
Credits: Director: Mark Mylod; Screenwriter: Collin Friesen; Producers: Christopher Eberts, David Faigenblum, Chris Roberts; Executive producers: Michael Birnbaum, Andreas Grosch, Sharon Harel, Kia Jam, Hannah Leader, John Schimmel, Andreas Schmid; Director of photography: James Glennon; Production designer: Jon Billington; Music: Mark Mothersbaugh; Co-producer: Elaine Dysinger; Costumes: Darena Snowe; Editor: Julie Monroe. Cast: Paul Barnell: Robin Williams; Margaret Barnell: Holly Hunter; Ted: Giovanni Ribisi; Tiffany: Alison Lohman; Gary: Tim Blake Nelson; Jimbo: W. Earl Brown; Raymond: Woody Harrelson.
MPAA rating R, running time 104 minutes.
- 10/10/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Lord of War" is an oddly satisfying mesh of an international action-adventure with an extremely dark satire about the global arms trade. Writer-director Andrew Niccol says he has based his story on actual events and created in his anti-hero a composite of five real-life arms dealers. Operating on the theory it is better to laugh than to cry, Niccol treats the rising fortunes of such a creature with comic irony. And in Nicolas Cage, he has a leading man who can behave with anti-humanitarian instincts and still compel audience fascination.
Production notes indicate this is a $50 million project, modest for an international escapade but high for a movie whose dark subject matter veers from the mainstream. It's a playable film with colorful characters and exotic locales, but without festival exposure, from which it may have benefited, "Lord of War" will need strong marketing to reach its audience.
The film is intelligently crafted from beginning to end. Opening credits express the ensuing story succinctly by following the manufacture and delivery of bullets right up to the point one is about to enter a young boy's brain.
Cage's Yuri Orlov narrates the story of his evolution into an illegal gun-runner. Normally, a voice-over narration presages weaknesses in the script. Not here. This narration is filled with wry observations about the international conspiracy to get guns and ammo into those regions of the world where they will do the most harm.
Yuri's family emigrated to the U.S. from Soviet-controlled Ukraine when he was a boy by falsely claiming to be Jewish. So, in essence, everything about Yuri is B.S., from his rationale that dealers in cars and cigarettes actually deliver more death than he does to his insistence to trophy wife, Ava (Bridget Moynahan), that his business is international transport.
His climb out of the Little Odessa immigrant community in Brighton Beach, N.Y., initially includes his brother Vitaly (Jared Leto). But gun-running turns Vitaly into an all-purpose addict. Yuri soldiers on, though, donning a suit and tie to meet the world's worst despots and warlords.
Even so, he has a hard time maintaining the guise of extreme wealth for his wife until the fall of the Soviet Union offers the largest bonanza of arms in history: More than $32 billion in arms get stolen from the Ukraine alone. For Yuri, it's an inside job, as his Uncle Dmitri, a perpetually soused army general, has the keys to the cache.
His competition comes from Ian Holm's silky smooth Simeon Weisz, who has enough conscience to trade with what he believes to be the politically righteous side. But Yuri's unprincipled methods work best with figures such as maniacal Liberian strongman Andre Baptiste (Eamonn Walker) and his equally crazed son Andre Jr. (Sammi Rotibi).
As with Joseph Heller's great war novel "Catch-22", the comedy stems from your understanding that in war things really are this bad. What can one do but laugh at a guy who wears a bullet on a chain necklace, like a coke dealer's gold spoon, or worries more about catching AIDS in Africa than what his business is doing to the people?
Cage is brilliant. His Yuri is numb to reality, seeing only the next deal. He wears this stoicism as a badge of pride. The brother's spin out of control is the only realistic reaction one can have to the horror he sees and helps perpetuate. Leto's Vitaly is a kid who never should have left his parents' borscht restaurant.
Moynahan's character is hard to read because the movie views Ava only as Yuri sees her. Moynahan doesn't come into her home until her final scenes. Ethan Hawke as Interpol agent Jack Valentine, who dogs Yuri's trail for years, is perhaps too naive. Walker and Rotibi manage the trick of finding comedy in total insanity.
The production gets terrific mileage out of locations in South Africa, the Czech Republic and New York City, creating First and Third World countries worthy of a John le Carre novel.
LORD OF WAR
Lions Gate Films
Entertainment Manufacturing Company presents a VIP Medienfonds 3, Ascendant Pictures, Saturn Films production in association with Rising Star, Copag V and Endgame Entertainment
Credits:
Screenwriter/director: Andrew Niccol
Producers: Philippe Rousselet, Andrew Niccol, Nicolas Cage, Norman Golightly, Andy Grosch, Chris Roberts
Executive producers: Fabrice Gianfermi, Bradley Cramp, Gary Hamilton, Christopher Eberts, Andreas Schmid, Michael Mendelsohn, James D. Stern
Director of photography: Amir Mokri
Production designer: Jean Vincent Puzos
Music: Antonio Pinto
Co-producer: Douglas E. Hansen
Costumes: Elisabeth Beraldo
Editor: Zach Staenberg
Cast:
Yuri Orlov: Nicolas Cage
Vitaly Orlov: Jared Leto
Ava Fontaine: Bridget Moynahan
Simeon Weisz: Ian Holm
Baptiste Sr.: Eamonn Walker
Baptiste Jr.: Sammi Rotibi
Valentine: Ethan Hawke
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 122 minutes...
Production notes indicate this is a $50 million project, modest for an international escapade but high for a movie whose dark subject matter veers from the mainstream. It's a playable film with colorful characters and exotic locales, but without festival exposure, from which it may have benefited, "Lord of War" will need strong marketing to reach its audience.
The film is intelligently crafted from beginning to end. Opening credits express the ensuing story succinctly by following the manufacture and delivery of bullets right up to the point one is about to enter a young boy's brain.
Cage's Yuri Orlov narrates the story of his evolution into an illegal gun-runner. Normally, a voice-over narration presages weaknesses in the script. Not here. This narration is filled with wry observations about the international conspiracy to get guns and ammo into those regions of the world where they will do the most harm.
Yuri's family emigrated to the U.S. from Soviet-controlled Ukraine when he was a boy by falsely claiming to be Jewish. So, in essence, everything about Yuri is B.S., from his rationale that dealers in cars and cigarettes actually deliver more death than he does to his insistence to trophy wife, Ava (Bridget Moynahan), that his business is international transport.
His climb out of the Little Odessa immigrant community in Brighton Beach, N.Y., initially includes his brother Vitaly (Jared Leto). But gun-running turns Vitaly into an all-purpose addict. Yuri soldiers on, though, donning a suit and tie to meet the world's worst despots and warlords.
Even so, he has a hard time maintaining the guise of extreme wealth for his wife until the fall of the Soviet Union offers the largest bonanza of arms in history: More than $32 billion in arms get stolen from the Ukraine alone. For Yuri, it's an inside job, as his Uncle Dmitri, a perpetually soused army general, has the keys to the cache.
His competition comes from Ian Holm's silky smooth Simeon Weisz, who has enough conscience to trade with what he believes to be the politically righteous side. But Yuri's unprincipled methods work best with figures such as maniacal Liberian strongman Andre Baptiste (Eamonn Walker) and his equally crazed son Andre Jr. (Sammi Rotibi).
As with Joseph Heller's great war novel "Catch-22", the comedy stems from your understanding that in war things really are this bad. What can one do but laugh at a guy who wears a bullet on a chain necklace, like a coke dealer's gold spoon, or worries more about catching AIDS in Africa than what his business is doing to the people?
Cage is brilliant. His Yuri is numb to reality, seeing only the next deal. He wears this stoicism as a badge of pride. The brother's spin out of control is the only realistic reaction one can have to the horror he sees and helps perpetuate. Leto's Vitaly is a kid who never should have left his parents' borscht restaurant.
Moynahan's character is hard to read because the movie views Ava only as Yuri sees her. Moynahan doesn't come into her home until her final scenes. Ethan Hawke as Interpol agent Jack Valentine, who dogs Yuri's trail for years, is perhaps too naive. Walker and Rotibi manage the trick of finding comedy in total insanity.
The production gets terrific mileage out of locations in South Africa, the Czech Republic and New York City, creating First and Third World countries worthy of a John le Carre novel.
LORD OF WAR
Lions Gate Films
Entertainment Manufacturing Company presents a VIP Medienfonds 3, Ascendant Pictures, Saturn Films production in association with Rising Star, Copag V and Endgame Entertainment
Credits:
Screenwriter/director: Andrew Niccol
Producers: Philippe Rousselet, Andrew Niccol, Nicolas Cage, Norman Golightly, Andy Grosch, Chris Roberts
Executive producers: Fabrice Gianfermi, Bradley Cramp, Gary Hamilton, Christopher Eberts, Andreas Schmid, Michael Mendelsohn, James D. Stern
Director of photography: Amir Mokri
Production designer: Jean Vincent Puzos
Music: Antonio Pinto
Co-producer: Douglas E. Hansen
Costumes: Elisabeth Beraldo
Editor: Zach Staenberg
Cast:
Yuri Orlov: Nicolas Cage
Vitaly Orlov: Jared Leto
Ava Fontaine: Bridget Moynahan
Simeon Weisz: Ian Holm
Baptiste Sr.: Eamonn Walker
Baptiste Jr.: Sammi Rotibi
Valentine: Ethan Hawke
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 122 minutes...
- 9/19/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Woody Harrelson has stepped aboard Ascendant Pictures/VIP Medienfonds' dark comedy The Big White. Harrelson is replacing James Woods, who had to drop out because of a scheduling conflict. In the film, a destitute Alaskan travel agent (Robin Williams) thinks he has found the answer to his financial problems in the form of a frozen body, which he tries to pass off as his long-lost brother (Harrelson) for the insurance money. The agent's plans are thwarted by a claims adjuster (Giovanni Ribisi) and two aspiring hitmen (Earl Brown and Tim Blake Nelson). Holly Hunter and Alison Lohman round out the cast. Ascendant's Christopher Eberts and Chris Roberts and Concept Entertainment's David Faigenblum are producing. VIP's Andreas Schmid and Andreas Grosch and Capitol Films' Sharon Harel and Hannah Leader are executive producing. Capitol is handling foreign rights. Harrelson's recent features include Jack Tucker, Trucker, After the Sunset and She Hate Me. Harrelson is repped by CAA.
- 4/16/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar winner Holly Hunter has come aboard The Big White, a dark comedy starring Robin Williams and directed by Mark Mylod. Giovanni Ribisi and James Woods also have been cast in the indie feature, which is being produced by Christopher Eberts and Chris Roberts through their Ascendant Pictures shingle. David Faigenblum also is producing. Williams plays an Alaskan travel agent with a deranged wife (Hunter). The agent thinks he has found the answer to his financial problems in the form of a frozen body in the Dumpster behind his office and pretends it's his long-missing brother. Woods plays the brother, and Ribisi is an insurance agent hoping to make his mark by exposing insurance fraud.
- 3/26/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- British helmer Mark Mylod has been attached to direct the feature comedy The Big White for Landscape Pictures and Ascendant Pictures from a script by Collin Friesen. Landscape said Monday that the project is in active development, with Mylod involved in supervising the final script. Artisan Pictures is on board to distribute the film domestically, with Ascendant's Christopher Eberts and Chris Roberts producing with Empire Pictures' Michael Birnbaum. David Faigenblum is also shouldering producing duties. Set in Alaska, Big White follows a hapless travel agent whose wife suffers from psychosomatic Tourette's Syndrome. Convinced a warmer climate might cure her ailment, he hatches a scheme to cash in on a million-dollar life insurance policy by stealing a corpse and pretending it's his long-missing brother.
- 10/23/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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