Kevin Costner is one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces. He has been in the industry for several decades, and he has no plans of stopping anytime soon. The actor is also known for taking on daring roles, ones that not only challenge himself as an actor but affect public perception too.
One such role that he tackled was in Oliver Stone’s hugely controversial 1991 film, JFK. The film stirred up a storm, and not many leading actors wanted to be involved in such a project, including Harrison Ford. Costner braved the storm, and he batted away the scandal that followed.
Costner took on the role that Ford rejected (Source: JFK) Kevin Costner took on a role that even Harrison Ford wanted to avoid at all costs
Oliver Stone had carved a niche for himself before he took on his most ambitious project, JFK, in 1991. The film revolved around the...
One such role that he tackled was in Oliver Stone’s hugely controversial 1991 film, JFK. The film stirred up a storm, and not many leading actors wanted to be involved in such a project, including Harrison Ford. Costner braved the storm, and he batted away the scandal that followed.
Costner took on the role that Ford rejected (Source: JFK) Kevin Costner took on a role that even Harrison Ford wanted to avoid at all costs
Oliver Stone had carved a niche for himself before he took on his most ambitious project, JFK, in 1991. The film revolved around the...
- 4/16/2024
- by Sreshtha Roychowdhury
- FandomWire
Marlon Brando gained a reputation in Hollywood through his method of acting. He famously leaned towards dramatics and creating tension, rather than delivering lines for the sake of it, becoming one of the most respected actors in the industry. His appearances in The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and On the Waterfront are only some excellent examples of his gift.
Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone
Even though he was one of the greatest actors of all time, some roles are simply not meant for some people.
Suggested“Everything changed for Roman after this”: Marlon Brando’s Oscar Winning Movie Helped Roman Reigns Save WWE From a Nightmare Spot
In 1991, Oliver Stone directed a film called JFK, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The film very quickly became one of the most controversial films in American history as it embraced and elaborated on the controversies surrounding the president’s assassination. It...
Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone
Even though he was one of the greatest actors of all time, some roles are simply not meant for some people.
Suggested“Everything changed for Roman after this”: Marlon Brando’s Oscar Winning Movie Helped Roman Reigns Save WWE From a Nightmare Spot
In 1991, Oliver Stone directed a film called JFK, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The film very quickly became one of the most controversial films in American history as it embraced and elaborated on the controversies surrounding the president’s assassination. It...
- 4/1/2024
- by Ananya Godboley
- FandomWire
Paranoia, at least the kind stemming from a lack of confidence, isn’t the dominant sensation permeating Oliver Stone’s frenzied and decidedly campy pledge of malignance JFK, the film that briefly made conspiracy theorizing not just socially acceptable, but practically a cornerstone of citizens’ civic duty. No, in practice, JFK is as sure of itself as a QAnon truther, setting into centripetal motion hundreds of specious theories and dancing around the logical gaps like Max Ophüls’s camera did the titular jewelry of The Earrings of Madame de… It’s the crown jewel of the small but potent batch of mainstream American films of the late Boomer era that seemingly rode the collective insanity of the cultural zeitgeist to financial reward and cultural cachet—two other obvious examples being Network, which explicitly “articulated the popular rage” that had more or less been building since the Kennedy assassination, and the...
- 2/12/2024
- by Eric Henderson
- Slant Magazine
It’s a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma.
So says Joe Pesci’s David Ferrie during a critical scene in Oliver Stone’s JFK, a movie being revisited for a few reasons. One is that Shout Factory just put out a 4K restoration that reissues both the director’s cut and theatrical cuts of these films. But, we’re also revisiting it due to the fact director Oliver Stone, more than thirty years after the film’s release, is still utterly fascinated by the assassination. His recent documentary, JFK: Through the Looking Glass, served as a bookend to the film, while another documentary, Citizen Stone, is in production and examines how the film, in some ways, served as his undoing, a notion I can’t say I agree with.
Whatever the case, JFK is a fascinating piece of work that was one of the most provocative films of the 90s.
So says Joe Pesci’s David Ferrie during a critical scene in Oliver Stone’s JFK, a movie being revisited for a few reasons. One is that Shout Factory just put out a 4K restoration that reissues both the director’s cut and theatrical cuts of these films. But, we’re also revisiting it due to the fact director Oliver Stone, more than thirty years after the film’s release, is still utterly fascinated by the assassination. His recent documentary, JFK: Through the Looking Glass, served as a bookend to the film, while another documentary, Citizen Stone, is in production and examines how the film, in some ways, served as his undoing, a notion I can’t say I agree with.
Whatever the case, JFK is a fascinating piece of work that was one of the most provocative films of the 90s.
- 1/10/2024
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Today commemorates the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s tragic assassination, a pivotal moment in U.S. history that took place during a motorcade in Dallas.
This historical event has inspired numerous television shows, documentaries and film re-creations, exploring the events leading up to the 35th president’s shooting and its aftermath.
Movies such as Pt 109 delved into Kennedy’s service as an officer in the Pacific War during World War II. Later came Oliver Stone’s gritty courtroom drama JFK, starring Kevin Costner as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, which took a deeper look at the assassination.
Scroll down for the best selection of television shows and films to watch.
This historical event has inspired numerous television shows, documentaries and film re-creations, exploring the events leading up to the 35th president’s shooting and its aftermath.
Movies such as Pt 109 delved into Kennedy’s service as an officer in the Pacific War during World War II. Later came Oliver Stone’s gritty courtroom drama JFK, starring Kevin Costner as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, which took a deeper look at the assassination.
Scroll down for the best selection of television shows and films to watch.
- 11/22/2023
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
Few characters in Oliver Stone’s “JFK” leave as indelible an impression than Donald Sutherland’s mysterious Capitol Hill informant. In just one short scene, Sutherland masterfully provides Kevin Costner’s Jim Garrison with intel about the assassination that makes Garrison realize exactly what he’s up against. Sutherland is just about perfect in the small but pivotal role, but IndieWire reports that Stone almost cast another legendary actor in the part.
Continue reading Oliver Stone Reveals He Wanted Marlon Brando In Donald Sutherland’s ‘JFK’ Role: That Scene Would Have Gone On For Twice The Length” at The Playlist.
Continue reading Oliver Stone Reveals He Wanted Marlon Brando In Donald Sutherland’s ‘JFK’ Role: That Scene Would Have Gone On For Twice The Length” at The Playlist.
- 8/31/2023
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
One of the most iconic scenes in Oliver Stone‘s 1991 classic “JFK” involves Donald Sutherland as a mysterious operative filling Kevin Costner‘s Jim Garrison in on the forces behind the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In an exhilarating tour de force performance for which Sutherland should have been Oscar-nominated, the actor tells a mesmerizing story packed with dense information that blows Garrison’s — and by extension, the viewer’s — mind, shifting the movie into an intense higher gear that propels the film’s final hour. The scene is unthinkable without Sutherland, and yet it could have gone a very different way.
At a live edition of IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast presented by the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, writer, producer, and director Stone revealed that he had discussed the role Sutherland eventually played with one of his childhood heroes. “I had been dumb enough to go to Marlon Brando,...
At a live edition of IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast presented by the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, writer, producer, and director Stone revealed that he had discussed the role Sutherland eventually played with one of his childhood heroes. “I had been dumb enough to go to Marlon Brando,...
- 8/31/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Let's take a brief trip through the looking glass, shall we?
There is not a more tantalizing mystery in United States history than the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Though the Warren Commission emphatically concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole gunman and acted alone, many people believe their investigation was either flawed or a full-scale cover-up. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists alleged an alliance between the Fidel Castro-led Cuban government and mobsters in the States. Louisiana District Attorney Jim Garrison believed Kennedy's murder was orchestrated by New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw and anti-Castro Cubans (who were still raw over the failed Bay of Pigs invasion). Everyone from Lyndon B. Johnson to Frank Sinatra has been linked in some way or another to the assassination.
The myriad of theories, many of which clumsily intersect with competing theories, tend to discredit each other. But it's understandable why people need...
There is not a more tantalizing mystery in United States history than the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Though the Warren Commission emphatically concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole gunman and acted alone, many people believe their investigation was either flawed or a full-scale cover-up. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists alleged an alliance between the Fidel Castro-led Cuban government and mobsters in the States. Louisiana District Attorney Jim Garrison believed Kennedy's murder was orchestrated by New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw and anti-Castro Cubans (who were still raw over the failed Bay of Pigs invasion). Everyone from Lyndon B. Johnson to Frank Sinatra has been linked in some way or another to the assassination.
The myriad of theories, many of which clumsily intersect with competing theories, tend to discredit each other. But it's understandable why people need...
- 5/16/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
When a topic gets the Oliver Stone treatment, it typically means that it's a controversial subject getting a cinematic deep dive into its origins. He's seemingly left no stone unturned, exploring topics like 1980s greed ("Wall Street"), the Vietnam War ("Born on the Fourth of July" and "Platoon"), the Kennedy assassination ("JFK"), and illegal surveillance ("Snowden").
For two decades, the director had professional football on his radar, dating back to an early 1980s project titled "The Linebacker," which would have starred Charles Bronson. In 1999, Stone's vision of the NFL finally came to fruition with "Any Given Sunday." By then, the game had changed exponentially from the time Charles Bronson was an A-lister in Hollywood. Player side hustles were replaced by multi-million-dollar advertising deals. The allure of "Monday Night Football" was supplanted by around-the-clock coverage on cable and SportsCenter highlights almost on the hour. What did that exposure mean for the modern athlete?...
For two decades, the director had professional football on his radar, dating back to an early 1980s project titled "The Linebacker," which would have starred Charles Bronson. In 1999, Stone's vision of the NFL finally came to fruition with "Any Given Sunday." By then, the game had changed exponentially from the time Charles Bronson was an A-lister in Hollywood. Player side hustles were replaced by multi-million-dollar advertising deals. The allure of "Monday Night Football" was supplanted by around-the-clock coverage on cable and SportsCenter highlights almost on the hour. What did that exposure mean for the modern athlete?...
- 11/8/2022
- by Travis Yates
- Slash Film
Oliver Stone's "JFK" centers on Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner), a New Orleans District Attorney who digs into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which he believes was perpetrated by a cabal that includes the CIA, FBI, and the Secret Service. That claim alone was bound to ignite a firestorm of controversy, but the director added even more fuel to the flames by blending archival footage of historical figures with his own reenactments, which led The Chicago Tribune to dismiss the film as "a propaganda piece." Thirty years after its release, the movie continues to be controversial, and journalists still feel compelled to debunk it.
Like most of Stone's films, the content of "JFK" pushed the envelope far beyond what some believed was appropriate or respectable, but it also challenged the 120-minute rule. According to Overthinking It, there's a long-standing myth in Hollywood that audiences' attention spans top out at two hours.
Like most of Stone's films, the content of "JFK" pushed the envelope far beyond what some believed was appropriate or respectable, but it also challenged the 120-minute rule. According to Overthinking It, there's a long-standing myth in Hollywood that audiences' attention spans top out at two hours.
- 11/3/2022
- by Christian Gainey
- Slash Film
Exclusive: David Mamet will direct 2 Days/1963, a drama scripted by Nicholas Celozzi that purports to tell how his great uncle, the notorious Chicago mobster Sam Giancana, arranged the assassination of President John F Kennedy as revenge for trying to bring down organized crime after the mob helped put JFK in the White House. Mamet, the twice Oscar-nominated scribe and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, will do a rewrite on Celozzi’s script. The film will be produced by Celozzi through his Monaco Films, with VP Michael Sportelli also producing. Bonnie Giancana, daughter of the late mobster, will be a consultant and executive producer.
The drama will focus on previously untold events that took place during the 48 hours before the assassination of America’s 35th president in November 1963. Some of Celozzi’s information comes from his late Uncle Pepe — Giancana’s brother — who, Celozzi said, told him about the mob’s complicity in the killing.
The drama will focus on previously untold events that took place during the 48 hours before the assassination of America’s 35th president in November 1963. Some of Celozzi’s information comes from his late Uncle Pepe — Giancana’s brother — who, Celozzi said, told him about the mob’s complicity in the killing.
- 6/27/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movie: "JFK"
Where You Can Stream It: HBO Max
The Pitch: Oliver Stone blows the lid off the entire Kennedy assassination conspiracy! And by that I mean he bends truths, ignores facts, and draws some illogical conclusions all while still making an absolute movie masterpiece. Plot-wise, the film follows New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) and he looks into the many, many, many conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Along the way, a ridiculously stacked...
The post The Daily Stream: Factually Accurate or Not, JFK is Oliver Stone's Masterpiece appeared first on /Film.
The Movie: "JFK"
Where You Can Stream It: HBO Max
The Pitch: Oliver Stone blows the lid off the entire Kennedy assassination conspiracy! And by that I mean he bends truths, ignores facts, and draws some illogical conclusions all while still making an absolute movie masterpiece. Plot-wise, the film follows New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) and he looks into the many, many, many conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Along the way, a ridiculously stacked...
The post The Daily Stream: Factually Accurate or Not, JFK is Oliver Stone's Masterpiece appeared first on /Film.
- 12/21/2021
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
This doc is packed with facts about the assassination – the subject of Stone’s 1991 movie – yet is frustratingly short on answers
On and on and on it goes. After 30 years, Oliver Stone has released this documentary as a kind of update or companion piece to his gripping 1991 feature JFK, which starred Kevin Costner as the New Orleans Da Jim Garrison, who attempted to test the alleged conspiracy in court. Stone’s film dramatically reopened the debate and single-handedly made conspiracy-theorising a socially and intellectually respectable pastime on the liberal left.
Nowadays, the conspiracy enthusiasts are on the right: the QAnoners, the anti-vaxxers and the 5G-mast obsessives. This new movie presents us with a mountain of new circumstantial evidence about the events in Dallas in 1963. With the benefit of innumerable newly released documents and newly uncovered interviewee records, it exhaustively and persuasively shows that there are screamingly obvious inconsistencies and anomalies...
On and on and on it goes. After 30 years, Oliver Stone has released this documentary as a kind of update or companion piece to his gripping 1991 feature JFK, which starred Kevin Costner as the New Orleans Da Jim Garrison, who attempted to test the alleged conspiracy in court. Stone’s film dramatically reopened the debate and single-handedly made conspiracy-theorising a socially and intellectually respectable pastime on the liberal left.
Nowadays, the conspiracy enthusiasts are on the right: the QAnoners, the anti-vaxxers and the 5G-mast obsessives. This new movie presents us with a mountain of new circumstantial evidence about the events in Dallas in 1963. With the benefit of innumerable newly released documents and newly uncovered interviewee records, it exhaustively and persuasively shows that there are screamingly obvious inconsistencies and anomalies...
- 11/24/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Oliver Stone once made brilliant movies like Platoon, which won Oscars for best picture and best director. These days, he’s a tinfoil-hatted fabricator. His new documentary — JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, premiering on Showtime on, you guessed it, Nov. 22 — is rooted in a big lie. It comes 30 years after the premiere of JFK, a film unrivaled in the annals of American cinematic propaganda. Both are based on the undying delusion that President Kennedy was murdered by the Deep State: The Central Intelligence Agency, backed by the military-industrial complex.
- 11/22/2021
- by Tim Weiner
- Rollingstone.com
Mort Sahl, a trailblazing political satirist whose biting wit and uncompromising intellect broadened the world of conventional standup comedy, died Tuesday in Mill Valley, Calif. He was 94.
The New York Times confirmed his death with his friend, Lucy Mercer.
In 1953, when Sahl first appeared at the Hungry i, a San Francisco folk singer’s hangout, he was an unknown with little stage experience. But his rapid-fire monologues about politics, social trends and fads quickly earned him the nickname “Rebel Without a Pause.”
“The three great geniuses of the period were Nichols and May, Jonathan Winters and Mort Sahl,” Woody Allen told New York magazine in 2008. Allen credited Sahl’s intellectual brand of humor for getting him into comedy. “He was the best thing I ever saw,” Allen said in another interview. “He totally restructured comedy. He changed the rhythm of the jokes.”
In 2011, his live 1955 recording “Mort Sahl at Sunset...
The New York Times confirmed his death with his friend, Lucy Mercer.
In 1953, when Sahl first appeared at the Hungry i, a San Francisco folk singer’s hangout, he was an unknown with little stage experience. But his rapid-fire monologues about politics, social trends and fads quickly earned him the nickname “Rebel Without a Pause.”
“The three great geniuses of the period were Nichols and May, Jonathan Winters and Mort Sahl,” Woody Allen told New York magazine in 2008. Allen credited Sahl’s intellectual brand of humor for getting him into comedy. “He was the best thing I ever saw,” Allen said in another interview. “He totally restructured comedy. He changed the rhythm of the jokes.”
In 2011, his live 1955 recording “Mort Sahl at Sunset...
- 10/26/2021
- by Rick Schultz
- Variety Film + TV
Has Donald Trump blown it? Major actors have always coveted playing the role of an empathetic U.S. president, but after Trump’s four years will anyone want that gig?
In years past Michael Douglas, Daniel Day-Lewis, Harrison Ford and even Henry Fonda have depicted admirable presidents. Even Kevin Spacey was likable as Richard Nixon when Elvis came to visit him (in 2016’s Elvis & Nixon).
To be sure, they all had their idiosyncrasies. In Dave (1993), Kevin Kline wasn’t careful enough about who was chosen to “double” him, and Douglas in The American President (1995) should have been wary about dating that lobbyist, even though she was Annette Bening. But they were good guys at heart.
None of those characters would have considered denying election results, or ignoring a pandemic, or snubbing his successor’s inauguration. There were boundaries, even in movies, about political mischief.
In Bulworth (1998), Warren Beatty briefly impersonated...
In years past Michael Douglas, Daniel Day-Lewis, Harrison Ford and even Henry Fonda have depicted admirable presidents. Even Kevin Spacey was likable as Richard Nixon when Elvis came to visit him (in 2016’s Elvis & Nixon).
To be sure, they all had their idiosyncrasies. In Dave (1993), Kevin Kline wasn’t careful enough about who was chosen to “double” him, and Douglas in The American President (1995) should have been wary about dating that lobbyist, even though she was Annette Bening. But they were good guys at heart.
None of those characters would have considered denying election results, or ignoring a pandemic, or snubbing his successor’s inauguration. There were boundaries, even in movies, about political mischief.
In Bulworth (1998), Warren Beatty briefly impersonated...
- 12/10/2020
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Martin Sheen to is on board to narrate Rush to Judgment II, an update to the 1967 version, Rush to Judgment, which is being executive produced by Stephen S. Jaffe. He is a former staff investigator and last surviving member of the legal team run by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison who led a probe into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The original Emile de Antonio-directed documentary was based on the New York Times best-selling novel Rush to Judgment by attorney Mark Lane, in which he takes issue with the Kennedy investigation and exposes serious flaws in the conclusions made by the Warren Commission. Lane, died in 2016, will be credited posthumously as an executive producer.
The contemporary documentary, which will be produced by Dylan Howard via his Topixly label, aims to uncover the conspiracy of powerful men that resulted in the assassination of President Kennedy and...
The original Emile de Antonio-directed documentary was based on the New York Times best-selling novel Rush to Judgment by attorney Mark Lane, in which he takes issue with the Kennedy investigation and exposes serious flaws in the conclusions made by the Warren Commission. Lane, died in 2016, will be credited posthumously as an executive producer.
The contemporary documentary, which will be produced by Dylan Howard via his Topixly label, aims to uncover the conspiracy of powerful men that resulted in the assassination of President Kennedy and...
- 6/17/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Tony Sokol Jun 6, 2019
New Orleans musician Mac Rebennack conjured the best mojo in Dr. John the Night Tripper.
"They call me Dr. John, The Night Tripper," New Orleans voodoo pianist Mac Rebennack sang on the 1969 song "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya." With his sizzling Gris-Gris his hand, he lived and breathed New Orleans. The last of the best, Dr. John the Night Tripper, died of a heart attack "toward the break of day" on Thursday, June 6, according to the New York Times. Like Leon Redbone, who died last week, there is some dispute over Dr. John's age, various reports have him listed as 77 or 78.
"The family thanks all whom have shared his unique musical journey, and requests privacy at this time," a statement from the musician's family said. They did not say where he died, though he reportedly was resting at his Lake Pontchartrain area home, not too far from New Orleans.
New Orleans musician Mac Rebennack conjured the best mojo in Dr. John the Night Tripper.
"They call me Dr. John, The Night Tripper," New Orleans voodoo pianist Mac Rebennack sang on the 1969 song "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya." With his sizzling Gris-Gris his hand, he lived and breathed New Orleans. The last of the best, Dr. John the Night Tripper, died of a heart attack "toward the break of day" on Thursday, June 6, according to the New York Times. Like Leon Redbone, who died last week, there is some dispute over Dr. John's age, various reports have him listed as 77 or 78.
"The family thanks all whom have shared his unique musical journey, and requests privacy at this time," a statement from the musician's family said. They did not say where he died, though he reportedly was resting at his Lake Pontchartrain area home, not too far from New Orleans.
- 6/7/2019
- Den of Geek
True Detective season 3 finale "Now Am Found" redeems a lawnmower man in an uplifting twist.
This True Detective review contains spoilers.
True Detective Season 3 Episode 8
True Detective season 3, episode 8, “Now Am Found,” closes out season 3 with the most insidious twist a series as dark as this can present, a happy ending. More than just happy, it is positively uplifting. And the thing that keeps it afloat is the lies it took to get it to rise. True Detective is about deception. At the close of the last episode, Detective Wayne Hays drove off in the limo of a very important figure in the community. Edward Hoyt, here played by Michael Rooker, who sideswiped Kevin Costner's New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison as he looked for the true conspirators in a presidential assassination in Oliver Stone's JFK.
We get a short flashback to Hays as campus security at a...
This True Detective review contains spoilers.
True Detective Season 3 Episode 8
True Detective season 3, episode 8, “Now Am Found,” closes out season 3 with the most insidious twist a series as dark as this can present, a happy ending. More than just happy, it is positively uplifting. And the thing that keeps it afloat is the lies it took to get it to rise. True Detective is about deception. At the close of the last episode, Detective Wayne Hays drove off in the limo of a very important figure in the community. Edward Hoyt, here played by Michael Rooker, who sideswiped Kevin Costner's New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison as he looked for the true conspirators in a presidential assassination in Oliver Stone's JFK.
We get a short flashback to Hays as campus security at a...
- 2/24/2019
- Den of Geek
Author: Dave Roper
Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to sit on the Us Supreme Court, but Marshall, 2017’s theatrical release named after him, rather than telling the story of how he came to occupy his seat there, instead focuses on a trial in which he became involved as a much younger lawyer. It stars Josh Gad, Kate Hudson and Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman, as the eponymous lawyer, with Sterling K. Brown, James Cromwell and Dan Stevens rounding out the impressive cast.
Marhsall is out on DVD on 26th February 2018
Marshall’s home entertainment release is fast approaching (out on Monday the 26th…) and it has got us thinking about cinema’s grand tradition of impressive courtroom dramas.
Courtroom dramas have been part of the fabric of cinema for decades and whether convincing, dramatically effective, unrealistic or wish-fulfillment, their back-and-forth pugilism and often sky-high stakes continue to make them compelling viewing.
Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to sit on the Us Supreme Court, but Marshall, 2017’s theatrical release named after him, rather than telling the story of how he came to occupy his seat there, instead focuses on a trial in which he became involved as a much younger lawyer. It stars Josh Gad, Kate Hudson and Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman, as the eponymous lawyer, with Sterling K. Brown, James Cromwell and Dan Stevens rounding out the impressive cast.
Marhsall is out on DVD on 26th February 2018
Marshall’s home entertainment release is fast approaching (out on Monday the 26th…) and it has got us thinking about cinema’s grand tradition of impressive courtroom dramas.
Courtroom dramas have been part of the fabric of cinema for decades and whether convincing, dramatically effective, unrealistic or wish-fulfillment, their back-and-forth pugilism and often sky-high stakes continue to make them compelling viewing.
- 2/23/2018
- by Dave Roper
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Robert Keeling Apr 19, 2017
Kevin Costner headlined an all-star cast in Oliver Stone's JFK. It was a film that led to an act of Congress being passed...
Oliver Stone’s epic conspiracy-thriller JFK, surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the case brought about by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison in relation to his murder, was released in 1991 to an astonishing level of critical backlash. Even before JFK arrived in theatres it was being pilloried and attacked by many in the media. The attacks were kick-started by Washington Post correspondent George Lardner, an investigative reporter who wrote a piece called On the Set: Dallas In Wonderland; How Oliver Stone’s Version Of The Kennedy Assassination Exploits The Edge Of Paranoia, which was actually based solely on a leaked copy of Stone’s first draft of the script.
See related The Last Kingdom series 2 episode 5 review The Last Kingdom...
Kevin Costner headlined an all-star cast in Oliver Stone's JFK. It was a film that led to an act of Congress being passed...
Oliver Stone’s epic conspiracy-thriller JFK, surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the case brought about by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison in relation to his murder, was released in 1991 to an astonishing level of critical backlash. Even before JFK arrived in theatres it was being pilloried and attacked by many in the media. The attacks were kick-started by Washington Post correspondent George Lardner, an investigative reporter who wrote a piece called On the Set: Dallas In Wonderland; How Oliver Stone’s Version Of The Kennedy Assassination Exploits The Edge Of Paranoia, which was actually based solely on a leaked copy of Stone’s first draft of the script.
See related The Last Kingdom series 2 episode 5 review The Last Kingdom...
- 3/29/2017
- Den of Geek
On Dec. 20, 1991, Oliver Stone and Warner Bros. unveiled the 188-minute conspiratorial thriller JFK, which was nominated for eight Oscars at the 64th Academy Awards. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below.
A good defense lawyer only needs to cast a reasonable doubt to get his client off the hook, we Kennedy followers have learned, and 1960s slugger Oliver Stone proves he's a masterful litigant in this gumbo-filled historical reconstruction of John F. Kennedy's assassination.
Essentially, it's not about Kennedy but rather the tale of New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison who — not believing the Warren Commission's report...
A good defense lawyer only needs to cast a reasonable doubt to get his client off the hook, we Kennedy followers have learned, and 1960s slugger Oliver Stone proves he's a masterful litigant in this gumbo-filled historical reconstruction of John F. Kennedy's assassination.
Essentially, it's not about Kennedy but rather the tale of New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison who — not believing the Warren Commission's report...
- 12/20/2016
- by THR Staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There is enough mystery in the facts as we know them, enough of conspiracy, coincidence, loose ends, dead ends, multiple interpretations. There is no need... to invent the grand and masterful scheme, the plot that reaches flawlessly in a dozen directions. - Don DeLillo, Libra (1988) Though it's as sticky with portents as a New Orleans summer, the scene on which Oliver Stone's "JFK" (1991) turns is set on the National Mall, the Washington Monument pinning the slate sky in place. As Orleans Parish District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) leans in close, scribbling in his pocket notebook, the high-ranking intelligence official known only as "X" (Donald Sutherland) weaves together a coup d'état from a fistful of disparate threads — a journey to the South Pole, a New Zealand newspaper's front page, the "unusual curve" of a Dallas street. "That's the real question, isn't it? Why?" he says. "The how and the.
- 2/15/2016
- by Matt Brennan
- Thompson on Hollywood
'JFK' movie with Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison 'JFK' assassination movie: Gripping political drama gives added meaning to 'Rewriting History' If it's an Oliver Stone film, it must be bombastic, sentimental, clunky, and controversial. With the exception of "clunky," JFK is all of the above. It is also riveting, earnest, dishonest, moving, irritating, paranoid, and, more frequently than one might expect, outright brilliant. In sum, Oliver Stone's 1991 political thriller about a determined district attorney's investigation of the assassination of U.S. president John F. Kennedy is a slick piece of propaganda that mostly works both dramatically and cinematically. If only some of the facts hadn't gotten trampled on the way to film illustriousness. With the exception of John Williams' overemphatic score – Oliver Stone films need anything but overemphasis – JFK's technical and artistic details are put in place to extraordinary effect. Joe Hutshing and Pietro Scalia's editing...
- 5/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
When you watch "McFarland, USA," the wonderful new Disney sports movie about a coach who, in 1987, took a group of untested kids in California (mostly sons of migrant field workers) and turned them into track champions, it's hard to imagine that Kevin Costner, who plays the coach, hasn't been in one of these films before. The actor, who has seen his career rebound in recent years thanks to brief roles in big movies like "Man of Steel" and "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit," is perfect as the grizzled coach who crafted this nearly legendary team.
We got to sit down and chat with Costner recently, which is pretty amazing given his legacy not only as an actor (in things like "Revenge" and "JFK") but as a filmmaker (including the Oscar-winning "Dances with Wolves" and underrated Western "Open Range"). We chatted about a whole range of topics -- everything from how many...
We got to sit down and chat with Costner recently, which is pretty amazing given his legacy not only as an actor (in things like "Revenge" and "JFK") but as a filmmaker (including the Oscar-winning "Dances with Wolves" and underrated Western "Open Range"). We chatted about a whole range of topics -- everything from how many...
- 2/18/2015
- by Drew Taylor
- Moviefone
It used to be said that every American could remember where he or she was when they heard the news that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Today, it’s official that no one under 50 can, or ever will, remember that moment. But I bet a great many people who are too young to have experienced the cataclysm of JFK’s murder can remember where they were the first time they saw the Zapruder film. Because for anyone too young to remember the assassination, that 26-second, 486-frame little home movie — the film that has been viewed more than any other...
- 11/22/2013
- by Owen Gleiberman
- EW.com - PopWatch
JFK, the historical thriller from Oliver Stone, stars Kevin Costner as New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, who suspects there is more to the story of President Kennedy’s assassination than the public is being told. Featuring a powerful supporting cast, including Donald Sutherland, Jack Lemmon and Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK is a must-see.
Stone’s almost obsessively detailed account of what could have happened on that fateful day, JFK remains the definitive take on the event. Kevin Costner plays New Orleans Da Jim Garrison, who was unconvinced by the Warren Commission Report and launched his own investigation into the killing.
Initially, the film was released to major controversy and led to a campaign to make Congress re-open government records from the 1977 House Select Committee. Stone uses real archive footage as well as historical reconstruction and conjecture based on his own theories and those of others to...
Stone’s almost obsessively detailed account of what could have happened on that fateful day, JFK remains the definitive take on the event. Kevin Costner plays New Orleans Da Jim Garrison, who was unconvinced by the Warren Commission Report and launched his own investigation into the killing.
Initially, the film was released to major controversy and led to a campaign to make Congress re-open government records from the 1977 House Select Committee. Stone uses real archive footage as well as historical reconstruction and conjecture based on his own theories and those of others to...
- 11/22/2013
- by Simon Gallagher
- Obsessed with Film
I’m sure I wasn’t the only person once upon a time who, hearing that Oliver Stone was making a movie called JFK starring Kevin Costner, assumed that it would be a biopic, with Costner playing the fallen president. When I eventually found out that the movie was going to be an investigation into the assassination itself, with the crusading New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison as its hero, I felt disappointment: Who wanted to watch another courtroom drama? We had courtroom dramas coming out our ears in the late eighties and early nineties.I needn’t have worried. Stone’s film turned out to be more than a legal procedural. First and foremost, of course, it was a controversy magnet. Stone endorsed (more than endorsed — magnified and dramatized and even melodramatized) Garrison’s elaborate conspiracy theory that Kennedy had been killed by a massive cabal involving the military-industrial complex,...
- 11/22/2013
- by Bilge Ebiri
- Vulture
Oliver Stone isn't known for subtlety. From the sledgehammered anti-greed message of Wall Street to the relentless nihilistic violence of Natural Born Killers, the director seldom is guilty of understatement.
Stone's most ambitious film, JFK, is no less over-the-top than his other works. Released in 1991, JFK is an orgy of Stone's signature style, a movie saturated (really, oversaturated) with visual and sound effects, artsy segues, and themes repeated too often. It's also one of the most important films made in Texas, a hugely successful and controversial movie by one of the most popular directors of its era.
As its title implies, JFK is about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but it's less about the tragic event than the countless conspiracy theories surrounding it. The film is based on the real-life story of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner), whose suspicions about Kennedy's murder led him to conduct a years-long investigation.
Stone's most ambitious film, JFK, is no less over-the-top than his other works. Released in 1991, JFK is an orgy of Stone's signature style, a movie saturated (really, oversaturated) with visual and sound effects, artsy segues, and themes repeated too often. It's also one of the most important films made in Texas, a hugely successful and controversial movie by one of the most popular directors of its era.
As its title implies, JFK is about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but it's less about the tragic event than the countless conspiracy theories surrounding it. The film is based on the real-life story of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner), whose suspicions about Kennedy's murder led him to conduct a years-long investigation.
- 11/19/2013
- by Don Clinchy
- Slackerwood
Ever since President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963, many people have wondered: What actually transpired on that Friday in Dallas? Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone? What about the Cubans and the Mafia? Did our government have something to do with it? 28 years later, filmmaker Oliver Stone created the award-winning movie JFK to illustrate his very personal point of view.
What Are Oliver Stone's 10 Best Movies?
JFK chronicles an investigation by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) and the subsequent conspiracy case he brought...
What Are Oliver Stone's 10 Best Movies?
JFK chronicles an investigation by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) and the subsequent conspiracy case he brought...
- 11/4/2013
- by Danielle Bacher
- Rollingstone.com
Ever since President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963, many people have wondered: What actually transpired on that Friday in Dallas? Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone? What about the Cubans and the Mafia? Did our government have something to do with it? 28 years later, filmmaker Oliver Stone created the award-winning movie JFK to illustrate his very personal point of view.
What Are Oliver Stone's 10 Best Movies?
JFK chronicles an investigation by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) and the subsequent conspiracy case he...
What Are Oliver Stone's 10 Best Movies?
JFK chronicles an investigation by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) and the subsequent conspiracy case he...
- 11/4/2013
- Rollingstone.com
The assassination of JFK and the conspiracy theories that followed have proved irresistible to writers and artists, from Oliver Stone to Stephen King
• Mark Lawson on the 10 best books inspired by JFK
The grassy knoll. The book depository. Any further description of the location is superfluous. We know where we are, and when. Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963: the scene of the assassination of President John F Kennedy. History assumes mythic proportions when its very familiarity requires no further explanation or scene-setting; when it provides instead a well-signposted point of departure for artistic creativity. The matter of Dallas has been as resonant in the fiction and film of the past half century as the story of the Trojan war was in the literature of classical antiquity. Only Hitler and the Nazis rival its influence on the modern imagination.
Yet the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination will not be marked by consensus.
• Mark Lawson on the 10 best books inspired by JFK
The grassy knoll. The book depository. Any further description of the location is superfluous. We know where we are, and when. Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963: the scene of the assassination of President John F Kennedy. History assumes mythic proportions when its very familiarity requires no further explanation or scene-setting; when it provides instead a well-signposted point of departure for artistic creativity. The matter of Dallas has been as resonant in the fiction and film of the past half century as the story of the Trojan war was in the literature of classical antiquity. Only Hitler and the Nazis rival its influence on the modern imagination.
Yet the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination will not be marked by consensus.
- 11/2/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
JFK is Oliver Stone's 1991 powerful and controversial film about the shots heard round the world and the mystery surrounding the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and remains one of the most provocative movies of our time. Nominated for eight Academy Awards and winner of two, JFK chronicles New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison's investigation into the Kennedy assassination. It explores all the assassination theories that have raised the nation's persistent questions, doubts and suspicions for nearly 50 years.
Next Showing:
Link | Posted 10/8/2013 by reelz
Oliver Stone | JFK...
Next Showing:
Link | Posted 10/8/2013 by reelz
Oliver Stone | JFK...
- 10/8/2013
- by reelz staff
- Reelzchannel.com
As history, it was dubious, but JFK (1991) director Oliver Stone’s version of the Kennedy assassination, was nothing short of riveting from the start to the finish of its 189 minutes running time. It was the type of speculative fiction that entertained, amused, and made the audience hungry for information. And who could forget a cast that featured Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones (his first Oscar nom!), Jack Lemmon, Kevin Bacon, Joe Pesci, Walter Mathau, Donald Sutherland, Ed Aser, John Candy, Sissy Spacek, Michael Rooker, and Gary Oldman as ‘Patsy’ Lee Harvey Oswald? Oliver Stone is an inspired filmmaker but JFK is not history, but it is a powerful movie about the emotions of the time, which is just as important as the actual fact that JFK was killed. Costner’s New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison is the collective 1960s American who was optimistic about the direction in which the...
- 9/17/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Another season, another conspiracy to end the world. That’s not the fatigue of so much Apocalypse Pop talking: In the grim noir world of Fox’s Sleepy Hollow — which premieres tonight at 9 p.m. on Fox — U.S. history is reimagined as the product of a never-ending, always stalemating supernatural shadow war, pitting truth-keeping, true believing patriots against black magic terrors bent on annihilating us from creation. At least, that’s what the “good guys” say. The bad guys have yet to speak…maybe because they’re lacking for heads. Say hello to what could be the season’s...
- 9/16/2013
- by Jeff Jensen
- EW.com - PopWatch
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 12, 2013
Price: Blu-ray $59.99
Studio: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Nov. 22, 2013, marks 50 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and Warner honors the anniversary with the release of a new version of Oliver Stone’s (Savages) Oscar-winning movie: JFK 50th Commemorative Ultimate Collector’s Edition.
The 1991, R-rated film looks at the aftermath of the killing, with New Orleans Da Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner, Dances With Wolves) suspicious of the FBI’s official story and launching his own investigation. Like in many of Stone’s movies, Garrison discovers that there’s more to the story than what the public is being told.
JFK won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and was nominated for another six, including Stone for Best Director, Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) for Best Supporting Actor, John Williams’ original score, the adapted screenplay and the biggie, Best Picture.
The cast...
Price: Blu-ray $59.99
Studio: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Nov. 22, 2013, marks 50 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and Warner honors the anniversary with the release of a new version of Oliver Stone’s (Savages) Oscar-winning movie: JFK 50th Commemorative Ultimate Collector’s Edition.
The 1991, R-rated film looks at the aftermath of the killing, with New Orleans Da Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner, Dances With Wolves) suspicious of the FBI’s official story and launching his own investigation. Like in many of Stone’s movies, Garrison discovers that there’s more to the story than what the public is being told.
JFK won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and was nominated for another six, including Stone for Best Director, Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) for Best Supporting Actor, John Williams’ original score, the adapted screenplay and the biggie, Best Picture.
The cast...
- 8/30/2013
- by Sam
- Disc Dish
Our pick of the Man of Steel star's greatest film performances – but what would you include?
Kevin Costner, currently starring in Man of Steel, is not quite the huge star he once was. For much of the 90s he was seemingly everywhere, appearing in a string of well-received blockbusters, over-blown sci-fi epics and big-hitting date movies. However, while he's never really gone away, in the years since The Postman the roles, and films, have got smaller.
For fans of his best work in the 90s, it's great to see him back in a big role in one of this summer's biggest movies – and it gives us the perfect opportunity to pick out some of our favourite Costner moments, as suggested on Twitter and Facebook by readers including @justmycup0ftea, @bobbyblowdart, @aresquare
But what what else ought to be on the list? Let us know in the comment thread below.
1. The Untouchables...
Kevin Costner, currently starring in Man of Steel, is not quite the huge star he once was. For much of the 90s he was seemingly everywhere, appearing in a string of well-received blockbusters, over-blown sci-fi epics and big-hitting date movies. However, while he's never really gone away, in the years since The Postman the roles, and films, have got smaller.
For fans of his best work in the 90s, it's great to see him back in a big role in one of this summer's biggest movies – and it gives us the perfect opportunity to pick out some of our favourite Costner moments, as suggested on Twitter and Facebook by readers including @justmycup0ftea, @bobbyblowdart, @aresquare
But what what else ought to be on the list? Let us know in the comment thread below.
1. The Untouchables...
- 6/14/2013
- by Adam Boult
- The Guardian - Film News
"You're close. You're closer than you think."
Plenty of conspiracies going around in this weekend's Skyfall release, so why not close out the weekend with the ultimate conspiracy movie, Oliver Stone's JFK?
Released in 1991, JFK followed the investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, as conducted by former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner). Stone based the screenplay on two books — Garrison's On the Trail of the Assassins and Jim Marrs' Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy — as well as putting together his own team to do exhaustive research on the subject. Stone was rewarded with 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Also nominated was Tommy Lee Jones for his work playing Clay Shaw, the only person charged with in connection with the Kennedy Assassination (though he was found not guilty). JFK is filled with great performances, however, with...
Plenty of conspiracies going around in this weekend's Skyfall release, so why not close out the weekend with the ultimate conspiracy movie, Oliver Stone's JFK?
Released in 1991, JFK followed the investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, as conducted by former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner). Stone based the screenplay on two books — Garrison's On the Trail of the Assassins and Jim Marrs' Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy — as well as putting together his own team to do exhaustive research on the subject. Stone was rewarded with 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Also nominated was Tommy Lee Jones for his work playing Clay Shaw, the only person charged with in connection with the Kennedy Assassination (though he was found not guilty). JFK is filled with great performances, however, with...
- 11/11/2012
- by Ryan Gowland
- Reelzchannel.com
With Oliver Stone’s Savages in UK cinemas now, we’re taking the opportunity to have a look at the very best of his filmography. Spanning over 40 years in its entirety, Stone’s career has been equal parts writer, director, and producer – he even has a penchant for turning up in cameo roles from time-to-time. Savages, which stars Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, John Travolta, Taylor Kitsch, Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek, returns to the familiar ‘power corrupts’ themes consistent in so many of Stone’s works, but it also heralds something of a departure from his more familiar political grounds. This time it’s all about marijuana, drug cartels, and ludicrously attractive young actors.
So in no particular order, the Top 5 Oliver Stone movies…
Scarface
“Say Hello, To My Little Friend!” – the quote that spawned a million posters. And it was a quote straight from the quill of Oliver Stone,...
So in no particular order, the Top 5 Oliver Stone movies…
Scarface
“Say Hello, To My Little Friend!” – the quote that spawned a million posters. And it was a quote straight from the quill of Oliver Stone,...
- 9/24/2012
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Forgotten Classics is a recurring feature, a look back and reflection on great motion pictures that often slip under the radar and become under-appreciated, ignored relics of a previous era or simply damned by lack of face time in the spotlight.
JFK
Directed by Oliver Stone
Written by Zachary Sklar
1991, USA
Naturally, given that he has a somewhat inimitable reputation in Hollywood circles, you could fill entire cue cards with words one has described Oliver Stone with; aggressive, paranoid, searing, genius, antagonistic, childlike, ferocious. His latest motion picture is Savages, currently on release in the United States and Canada, an admittedly pointed story revolving around the hot topic of marijuana distribution. Since Stone has a confessed pro-legalization stance on the matter, it serves to make a film out of a sensitive issue. This is Stone’s remit, it would seem. A quick survey of his back catalogue shows that one...
JFK
Directed by Oliver Stone
Written by Zachary Sklar
1991, USA
Naturally, given that he has a somewhat inimitable reputation in Hollywood circles, you could fill entire cue cards with words one has described Oliver Stone with; aggressive, paranoid, searing, genius, antagonistic, childlike, ferocious. His latest motion picture is Savages, currently on release in the United States and Canada, an admittedly pointed story revolving around the hot topic of marijuana distribution. Since Stone has a confessed pro-legalization stance on the matter, it serves to make a film out of a sensitive issue. This is Stone’s remit, it would seem. A quick survey of his back catalogue shows that one...
- 8/5/2012
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
Conspiracy theory drama will tell the story of lawyer William Pepper's fight to prove that the civil rights activist was murdered by forces including the Us government
Lee Daniels is teaming up with Hugh Jackman for the conspiracy theory drama Orders to Kill, about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, according to the La Times.
With Daniels directing, Jackman will star as William Pepper, the lawyer who has argued for decades that, on 4 April 1968, the Us civil rights activist was murdered by unseen forces including the Us government. The man convicted of shooting King was James Earl Ray, an advocate of non-violent protest; Ray recanted his confession and died protesting his innocence.
The film, which will follow Pepper's long fight to bring his arguments to prominence, is adapted by screenwriter Hanna Weg from Pepper's 1995 book Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King. Following Ray's death,...
Lee Daniels is teaming up with Hugh Jackman for the conspiracy theory drama Orders to Kill, about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, according to the La Times.
With Daniels directing, Jackman will star as William Pepper, the lawyer who has argued for decades that, on 4 April 1968, the Us civil rights activist was murdered by unseen forces including the Us government. The man convicted of shooting King was James Earl Ray, an advocate of non-violent protest; Ray recanted his confession and died protesting his innocence.
The film, which will follow Pepper's long fight to bring his arguments to prominence, is adapted by screenwriter Hanna Weg from Pepper's 1995 book Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King. Following Ray's death,...
- 8/1/2012
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Forgotten Classics is a recurring feature, a look back and reflection on great motion pictures that often slip under the radar and become under-appreciated, ignored relics of a previous era or simply damned by lack of face time in the spotlight.
JFK
Directed by Oliver Stone
Screenplay by Zachary Sklar and Oliver Stone
1991, USA
Naturally, given that he has a somewhat inimitable reputation in Hollywood circles, you could fill entire cue cards with words one has described Oliver Stone with; aggressive, paranoid, searing, genius, antagonistic, childlike, ferocious. His latest motion picture is Savages, currently on release in the United States and Canada, an admittedly pointed story revolving around the hot topic of marijuana distribution. Since Stone has a confessed pro-legalization stance on the matter, it serves to make a film out of a sensitive issue. This is Stone’s remit, it would seem. A quick survey of his back catalogue...
JFK
Directed by Oliver Stone
Screenplay by Zachary Sklar and Oliver Stone
1991, USA
Naturally, given that he has a somewhat inimitable reputation in Hollywood circles, you could fill entire cue cards with words one has described Oliver Stone with; aggressive, paranoid, searing, genius, antagonistic, childlike, ferocious. His latest motion picture is Savages, currently on release in the United States and Canada, an admittedly pointed story revolving around the hot topic of marijuana distribution. Since Stone has a confessed pro-legalization stance on the matter, it serves to make a film out of a sensitive issue. This is Stone’s remit, it would seem. A quick survey of his back catalogue...
- 7/29/2012
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
In some films, particularly of the twists and turns variety, a significant event, moment or even line of dialogue, can be summarized by the phrase “This changes everything”. This is known as a Game Changer, where the established landscape of the movie’s plot is irrevocably and dramatically altered, with no chance of ever going back. Audience reaction can range from emotional sledgehammer to Wtf?
Often this single moment can encapsulate the whole film, and become its most famed component: everybody who has heard of The Crying Game is also familiar with its reveal. This isn’t the Twist Ending we’re talking about; this is the story shaking, ultimately defining wham moment.
Here are six great examples.
Obviously contains extensive spoilers.
“Have you a valediction, boyo?” – L.A. Confidential
A feast of noir murder mystery and crusading character development, Curtis Hanson’s adaptation of James Ellroy’s labyrinth novel...
Often this single moment can encapsulate the whole film, and become its most famed component: everybody who has heard of The Crying Game is also familiar with its reveal. This isn’t the Twist Ending we’re talking about; this is the story shaking, ultimately defining wham moment.
Here are six great examples.
Obviously contains extensive spoilers.
“Have you a valediction, boyo?” – L.A. Confidential
A feast of noir murder mystery and crusading character development, Curtis Hanson’s adaptation of James Ellroy’s labyrinth novel...
- 4/16/2012
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
Comedians are literally paid to say provocative things, but typically even their most shocking material has been massaged down for maximum digestibility. But after two and a half seasons working on one of the most incisive and incendiary comedy shows in the last decade, "The Chappelle Show," Neal Brennan is bold even by normal standards of button-pushing. Even when he was offering his email address, whose slightly older portal I observed that we share, his response was, "yeah, fuck everybody!" Of course, that was at the end of a long interview in which he'd already offered quite a few observations and opinions some readers - much less colleagues - might find objectionable.
In this epic conversation with IFC, Brennan held nothing back as he discussed his comedic upbringing, his background as a writer and performer of race-sensitive (and let's face it, sometimes insensitive) material, the state of contemporary comedy, and...
In this epic conversation with IFC, Brennan held nothing back as he discussed his comedic upbringing, his background as a writer and performer of race-sensitive (and let's face it, sometimes insensitive) material, the state of contemporary comedy, and...
- 11/30/2011
- by IFC
- ifc.com
Simon salutes the sterling work of Kevin Costner in a list of the 10 best films of his career so far. “Let’s do some good”…
It’s a topic we seem to return to on an annual basis at Den Of Geek, and we’re firm believers with an ‘on with the tradition’ philosophy here. But, of all the movie stars who have risen and fallen over the past few decades, have any had quite as much of an eye for a good risk, or taking a chance, as Kevin Costner?
It’s testament to his body of work just going through some of his quality films that didn’t make the following run-down of his top ten movies. For Love Of The Game is a woefully underrated baseball movie, for instance, while there’s a lot to like in Mr Brooks, too. And you’ll notice the almost-criminal omission...
It’s a topic we seem to return to on an annual basis at Den Of Geek, and we’re firm believers with an ‘on with the tradition’ philosophy here. But, of all the movie stars who have risen and fallen over the past few decades, have any had quite as much of an eye for a good risk, or taking a chance, as Kevin Costner?
It’s testament to his body of work just going through some of his quality films that didn’t make the following run-down of his top ten movies. For Love Of The Game is a woefully underrated baseball movie, for instance, while there’s a lot to like in Mr Brooks, too. And you’ll notice the almost-criminal omission...
- 10/27/2011
- Den of Geek
With the world engrossed by the turmoil of the News of the World newspaper’s demise amidst a whirlwind of phone-hacking allegations (which I’m sure many of you agree was done in the most despicable of manners to people who were thoroughly undeserving of such treatment), I began thinking about the giant conspiracy amongst News International big wigs surrounding their underhand actions.
Conspiracy theories have long been at the forefront of popular culture: from the mysteries surrounding Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana’s deaths to elements of the politics of virtually every regime to have even an ounce of power, we quite simply love them. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the film world has picked up on this and produced hoards of films with a conspiracy theory narrative. So as we all theorise about The News of the World, sit back and enjoy the ten best conspiracy theory films out there!
Conspiracy theories have long been at the forefront of popular culture: from the mysteries surrounding Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana’s deaths to elements of the politics of virtually every regime to have even an ounce of power, we quite simply love them. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the film world has picked up on this and produced hoards of films with a conspiracy theory narrative. So as we all theorise about The News of the World, sit back and enjoy the ten best conspiracy theory films out there!
- 7/13/2011
- by Stuart Cummins
- Obsessed with Film
Oliver Stone's fine fictional account of John F Kennedy's assassination dodges the truth like a magic bullet
Director: Oliver Stone
Entertainment grade: B
History grade: Fail
On 22 November 1963, American president John F Kennedy was shot and killed as he drove through Dallas, Texas. The Warren Commission, charged with investigating the assassination, concluded that he was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone.
Truth
The film opens with a documentary montage, presenting Kennedy (very questionably) as a radical progressive who upset the establishment and therefore found himself on the road to assassination. This is mixed in with recreated fictional footage, and segues into the movie itself without distinction – making a discreet but definite claim for documentary-level accuracy. Our hero is New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison – who, in another subtle bid for trustworthiness, is played by 1991's biggest mainstream Hollywood star, Kevin Costner. There's no doubt about it: Oliver Stone...
Director: Oliver Stone
Entertainment grade: B
History grade: Fail
On 22 November 1963, American president John F Kennedy was shot and killed as he drove through Dallas, Texas. The Warren Commission, charged with investigating the assassination, concluded that he was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone.
Truth
The film opens with a documentary montage, presenting Kennedy (very questionably) as a radical progressive who upset the establishment and therefore found himself on the road to assassination. This is mixed in with recreated fictional footage, and segues into the movie itself without distinction – making a discreet but definite claim for documentary-level accuracy. Our hero is New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison – who, in another subtle bid for trustworthiness, is played by 1991's biggest mainstream Hollywood star, Kevin Costner. There's no doubt about it: Oliver Stone...
- 4/28/2011
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
JFK Review: Part I The same cannot be said of Kevin Costner and Jim Garrison, who look about as similar as a camel and a platypus. Even so, that doesn't prevent Costner (right, with Donald Sutherland) from reaching a career apex as a tough and world-weary Mr. Smith who goes to Washington not to eulogize Lincoln or the country's Founding Fathers, but to learn about a conspiracy that is about to destroy American democracy. Like the American film heroes of yore, Costner's Garrison is an earnest, straightforward, and commanding fellow, with shoulders broad enough to carry the weight of a whole nation in search of the truth. During his climactic speech, he's all determination and righteousness. One doesn't expect him to get weak-kneed while espousing the next American Revolution — and Costner's knees never buckle. His movie-movie D.A. loses the case while winning this viewer's admiration. JFK also offers two...
- 2/5/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
JFK (1991) Direction: Oliver Stone Cast: Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman, Joe Pesci, Laurie Metcalf, Jack Lemmon, Sally Kirkland, Jay O. Sanders, Edward Asner, Walter Matthau, Vincent D'Onofrio, Michael Rooker, John Candy, Donald Sutherland Screenplay: Oliver Stone, Zachary Sklar; from Jim Marrs' book Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy and Jim Garrison's book On the Trail of the Assassins Oscar Movies Highly Recommended Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison in JFK Paranoid? Moi? If it's an Oliver Stone film, it must be bombastic, sentimental, clunky, and controversial. With the exception of "clunky," JFK is all of the above. It is also riveting, earnest, dishonest, moving, irritating, paranoid, and, more frequently than one might expect, outright brilliant. In sum, Oliver Stone's 1991 political thriller about a determined district attorney's investigation on the assassination of U.S. president John F. Kennedy is a slick piece of...
- 2/5/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Eighteen months ago, Tariq Ali got a call from Oliver Stone: could he help with his new film? The result was a powerful documentary about Latin America – and a new friendship
Almost a year and a half ago I received a phone call from Paraguay. It was Oliver Stone. He had been reading Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope, my collection of essays on the changing politics of Latin America, and asked if I was familiar with his work. I was, especially the political films in which he challenged the fraudulent accounts of the Vietnam war that had gained currency during the B-movie years of Reagan's presidency.
Stone had actually fought in that war as a Us marine, which made it difficult for others to pigeonhole him as a namby-pamby pacifist. Many of his detractors had avoided the draft and were now making up for it by proclaiming...
Almost a year and a half ago I received a phone call from Paraguay. It was Oliver Stone. He had been reading Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope, my collection of essays on the changing politics of Latin America, and asked if I was familiar with his work. I was, especially the political films in which he challenged the fraudulent accounts of the Vietnam war that had gained currency during the B-movie years of Reagan's presidency.
Stone had actually fought in that war as a Us marine, which made it difficult for others to pigeonhole him as a namby-pamby pacifist. Many of his detractors had avoided the draft and were now making up for it by proclaiming...
- 7/26/2010
- by Tariq Ali
- The Guardian - Film News
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