Placeholder Content Image

Cruise director shares little known ship facts

<p dir="ltr">A cruise director has revealed little known facts about cruise ships and their dedicated staff, while sharing tips for eager travellers.  </p> <p dir="ltr">Luigi Incarnato, cruise director for MSC, is often seen hosting events, introducing acts and getting involved with passengers onboard his cruises. </p> <p dir="ltr">He shared his top tips for passengers with <em><a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/cruising/cruise-ship-worker-msc-world-europa/cab3f458-35e0-4989-aa3e-ce0cec1eee6b">9Travel</a></em>, while also revealing some industry secrets. </p> <p dir="ltr">When asked what people may not have considered about the crew and vessel of a cruise ship, Luigi shared that even more work goes into pulling off a trip than one might think. </p> <p dir="ltr">He said, “Our crew onboard comes from more than 60-70 countries of the world, spread on all continents, leading to an exceptionally culturally diverse team, which we are very proud of.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Each one of our crew members is remarkably hard working and skilled in their trade. Our crew comes onboard for an average of six to seven months then goes home to rest for an average of two months and reembarks, possibly on a new ship.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“We also work on national holidays, on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Luigi added that there is one thing many people may not think to bring onboard, that is of vital importance. </p> <p dir="ltr">When asked what essential to pack, he said, “Their complete health issues history and a medicine list with any prescriptions that may be needed during the cruise.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“A suitable wardrobe for the theme nights, especially for the elegant and white dress code evenings, and sunscreen.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p>

Cruising

Placeholder Content Image

"A true legend": Jane Fonda pegs award at director's head

<p>Film icon Jane Fonda is known to entertain the masses, and her cheeky antics at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival saw her do just that.</p> <p>While hosting Palme d’Or Awards on May 27, Fonda, 85, called up director Justine Triet who had won the award for <em>Anatomy of the Fall</em>, but it was Fonda’s deliverance of said award that had viewers in stitches.</p> <p>The 85-year-old tried to get Triet's attention, but after multiple attempts of calling out to her, Fonda decided to throw the scroll at the director’s back.</p> <p>When the scroll hit Triet on the back of the head and fell to the floor, she didn’t appear to notice.</p> <p><em>The Book Club</em> star’s unconventional passing of the award sent Twitter users into a frenzy, with many praising her, calling her a “queen” with an “excellent shot.”</p> <p>"A true legend." one person wrote.</p> <p>"This just made my day! 😂😂😂" another said.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">favorite cannes moment is officially jane fonda throwing the palme d'or certificate at justine triet because she forgot to take it <a href="https://t.co/6tv8TEj8zw">pic.twitter.com/6tv8TEj8zw</a></p> <p>— flo ¨̮ (@astralbarnes) <a href="https://twitter.com/astralbarnes/status/1662568221931601920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>Fonda hit the red carpet dazzled in black sequins. Her black gown was faired with a chain necklace and matching earrings.</p> <p>The beloved actress has been documenting her Cannes weekend via Instagram, sharing photos of herself with Hollywood greats Eva Longoria and Kate Winslet, as well as a snippet of her accommodation.</p> <p>Fonda’s attendance comes five months into her remission after <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/jane-fonda-reassures-fans-after-cancer-diagnosis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcing her non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis</a> in September 2022.</p> <p>She revealed the happy news on her Instagram, titling it "BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!!!"</p> <p>”Last week I was told by my oncologist that my cancer is in remission and I can discontinue chemo," she wrote. "I am feeling so blessed, so fortunate."</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

TV

Placeholder Content Image

Quentin Tarantino defends directorial decisions

<p dir="ltr">Quentin Tarantino has defended his choice to not include sex scenes in his movies. </p> <p dir="ltr">Rising to fame in 1992 with <em>Reservoir Dogs</em>, and becoming a household name with <em>Pulp Fiction</em>, he continued to wow the world. </p> <p dir="ltr">The legendary director has worked on several accredited films including, <em>Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, </em>and<em> Once Upon a Time in Hollywood</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking to the Catalan Spanish newspaper <em>Diari ARA</em>, the iconic filmmaker defended the lack of sex scenes decision.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It’s true, sex is not part of my vision of cinema. And the truth is that, in real life, it’s a pain to shoot sex scenes, everyone is very tense. And if it was already a bit problematic to do it before, now it is even more so. If there had ever been a sex scene that was essential to the story, I would have, but so far it hasn’t been necessary.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Sex has never been a major factor in any of his films due to their primarily violent crime-driven nature. </p> <p dir="ltr">Tarantino is currently working on his <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/movies/quentin-tarantino-teases-retirement">tenth and final film</a> and although the plot remains unknown, we’re pretty certain there won’t be any sex scenes.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Funeral director accused of stealing from dead woman

<p dir="ltr">An 82-year-old woman, Teresa had to sadly lay her 56-year-old daughter Helen Moratias to rest after her untimely death.</p> <p dir="ltr">A devastated Teresa sensed something was off when she said the funeral director refused to open the casket at the church. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I was screaming and crying," Moraitis told A Current Affair.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I wanted to see my daughter and all my relatives wanted to see, to say goodbye.”</p> <p dir="ltr">After months of emotional torture, Teresa made the decision to exhume her daughter's remains from the above ground mausoleum. </p> <p dir="ltr">A Current Affair’s cameras were invited onto the scene, to bring to light what Teresa claims is the dark side of Australia’s unregulated funeral industry.</p> <p dir="ltr">After travelling to the mortuary facility, embalmers opened the casket to find Teresa’s naked remains in a blue body bag with her arm up behind her head. </p> <p dir="ltr">Thousands of dollars of gold jewellery and clothing that were given to the funeral director, Peter Tziotzis, were also missing. </p> <p dir="ltr">Despite paying for her daughter to be embalmed and plans for an open casket funeral, no preparation had been done on the corpse, according to mortuary staff who examined the remains.</p> <p dir="ltr">Teresa claimed on the day of the funeral, her family was told the casket had to be sealed shut as it was the coroner’s order.</p> <p dir="ltr">The family said the coroner later confirmed that no such order ever came about.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I feel betrayed," Teresa said. </p> <p dir="ltr">After Helen’s body was exhumed, detectives arrested Tziotzis, while allegedly finding the missing jewellery and clothes at the funeral parlour.</p> <p dir="ltr">Tziotzis released a statement, saying, “I wish to state in the clearest terms that A Current Affair’s version of events is incorrect and without factual basis. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I did not steal any jewellery or clothing, I did not fail to prepare Ms Moraitis’ daughter’s body for the funeral and burial and I was not dishonest in any way in my dealings with Ms Moraitis. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I also have not been charged with any criminal offence by Victoria Police.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Tziotzis still denies all claims.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: A Current Affair</em></p>

Legal

Placeholder Content Image

Actors who didn’t get along with their directors

<p dir="ltr">When it comes to making a Hollywood blockbuster movie, there are always a lot of big personalities involved, both on and off screen. </p><p dir="ltr">While actors and directors mostly collaborate in harmony to create movie magic (think Robert de Niro and Martin Scorsese), sometimes those on screen can’t stand the ones behind the camera. </p><p dir="ltr">While a lot of the time these feuds can go unnoticed, there have been several times where the stars of a movie have come out swinging against their directors, despite the success of a film. </p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Keira Knightley and John Carney</strong></p><p dir="ltr">Working together in the 2007 musical drama <em>Begin Again</em>, director John Carney dubbed actress Keira Knightley a “supermodel” and criticised her acting while speaking to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/john-carney-i-ll-never-make-a-film-with-supermodels-again-once-sing-street-interview-keira-knightley-a7053076.html">The Independent</a>. </p><p dir="ltr">He said, “Being a film actor requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don’t think she’s ready for yet.”</p><p dir="ltr">He has since apologised for his comments, but despite accepting his apology, Knightley said working on Begin Again was “very difficult” and the pair just “didn’t get on”.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>The cast of <em>Steel Magnolias</em> and Herbert Ross</strong></p><p dir="ltr">Despite the 1989 film being a beloved classic, the tense production between director Herbert Ross and actresses Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley Maclaine and Dolly Parton became an issue for the cast. </p><p dir="ltr">“My deepest memories of the film were how we bonded together after he told one of us or all of us we couldn’t act,” Sally Field said in 2013. “He went after Julia with a vengeance. This was pretty much her first big film.”</p><p dir="ltr">In  1993, Ross commented on Julia Roberts’ acting, saying she “looked bad and gave a very bad performance,” prompting her to respond, “If he thinks he can talk about me in such a condescending way and not have me say something about it, then he’s nuts”.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>George Clooney and David O Russell</strong></p><p dir="ltr">On the set of the 1999 film <em>Three Kings</em>, actor George Clooney said he confronted director David O Russell after he “went nuts on an extra”. </p><p dir="ltr">“I would not stand for him humiliating and yelling and screaming at crew members, who weren’t allowed to defend themselves,” Clooney said in 2003.</p><p dir="ltr">He went on to say that working on the film was “the worst experience of my life.”</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Faye Dunaway and Roman Polanski</strong></p><p dir="ltr">The feud between Dunaway and Polanski on the set of the 1974 film <em>Chinatown</em> went down in Hollywood lore, with the director dubbing the actress as “difficult” and a “gigantic pain”.</p><p dir="ltr">In response to his accusations, Dunaway claimed that Polanski was “incessantly cruel” and has a “never-ending need to humiliate her”.</p><p dir="ltr">In her autobioghraphy, she said his disgusting behaviour “bordered on sexual harrassment”.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Bill Murray and Harold Ramis</strong></p><p dir="ltr">After collaborating together on classic films such as <em>Groundhog Day</em>, <em>Caddyshack</em> and <em>Ghostbusters</em>, Murray and Ramis had a seemingly unbreakable comedic bond. </p><p dir="ltr">However, on the set of <em>Groundhog Day</em>, the relationship between the pair escalated until Ramis ended up grabbing Murray by the shirt collar and throwing him against a wall, according to a 2018 biography of Ramis by his daughter Violet. </p><p dir="ltr">According to the biography, Ramis was left “heartbroken, confused and yet unsurprised by the rejection”. </p><p dir="ltr">More than 20 years later, Murray appeared at Ramis’ side when he was on his deathbed and proceeded to mend the relationship with his collaborator at the very last minute. </p><p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Director blames millennials for box office flop

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Director Ridley Scott has placed the blame for his latest movie’s poor performance on millennials for a bizarre reason: their mobile phones.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scott’s medieval film, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Last Duel</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, is based on a real-life ritual duel between knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and squire Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) after Jean’s wife, Marguerite (Jodie Comer) accuses Jacques of sexually assaulting her.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the A-list cast and positive reviews ahead of its release in cinemas, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Last Duel</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has bombed at the box office after raking in $4.8 million on its opening weekend.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It currently has a domestic gross of $10 million, a sliver of its $100 million budget.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 83-year-old director behind hit films like </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alien</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gladiator</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>Blade</em> <em>Runner</em></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> first mentioned his gripe with the millennial generation during an appearance on Marc Maron’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">WTF Podcast</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></em></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Today is Ridley Scott day on <a href="https://t.co/KBRiPQLutw">https://t.co/KBRiPQLutw</a>! Blade Runner, historical epics, his secret weapon in filmmaking, House of Gucci! Great talk! Do it up!<br /><br />Episode - <a href="https://t.co/PWcTZfeV3k">https://t.co/PWcTZfeV3k</a><br /><br />On <a href="https://twitter.com/ApplePodcasts?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ApplePodcasts</a> - <a href="https://t.co/utE9C6ox5Z">https://t.co/utE9C6ox5Z</a><br /><br />On <a href="https://twitter.com/Stitcher?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stitcher</a> - <a href="https://t.co/r1E9mtQF2k">https://t.co/r1E9mtQF2k</a> <a href="https://t.co/dPkQXhplgA">pic.twitter.com/dPkQXhplgA</a></p> — WTF with Marc Maron (@WTFpod) <a href="https://twitter.com/WTFpod/status/1462823039213572100?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though many were expecting Scott to lay the blame on Disney after the entertainment conglomerate snapped up 20th Century Fox and its slate of films, he said Disney was pleased with the movie and he was happy with how they handled its release.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Disney did a fantastic promotion job. The bosses loved the movie because I was concerned it was not for them,” Scott said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think what it boils down to - what we’ve got today [are] audiences who were brought up on these f**king cell phones.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Scott accused the “millenian” generation of refusing to learn anything unless it was taught through their phone and believed their attitude came from social media.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook,” he continued.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVd0ZWELMtO/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVd0ZWELMtO/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by 20th Century Studios (@20thcenturystudios)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The film’s poor performance could be partially blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic, which would have kept older audiences - the movie’s prime demographic - away from cinemas.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Recent box office trends have also found that most audiences have been flocking to superhero, science fiction, and horror films, rather than historical dramas like </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Last Duel</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Plus, the film has debuted in a bumper month of releases, competing against the likes of superhero film </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Venom: Let There Be Carnage</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, sci-fi epic </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dune</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and the long-awaited </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>No Time to Die</em></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Last Duel</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">’s lacklustre performance could also point to a change in audience expectations, reported by </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://screenrant.com/last-duel-movie-failure-ridley-scott-millennials-response/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Screen Rant</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">. With audiences coming to cinemas to see epic, blockbuster movies, smaller films and period pieces like </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Last Duel</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> have become films audiences will wait to watch until they can be streamed.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

WHO director general calls for moratorium on vaccine boosters

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As countries around the world attempt to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19, the World Health Organisation has called for a moratorium on supplementary “booster” shots, citing global inequalities in access to the jabs.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/WHO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WHO</a> director general <a href="https://twitter.com/DrTedros?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DrTedros</a> is calling for a moratorium on booster shoots in wealthy countries until the end of Sept, to get more vaccine to low income countries.</p> — Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) <a href="https://twitter.com/HelenBranswell/status/1422909510558093318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The statement came hours after a San Francisco hospital began offering “supplemental doses” of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to recipients of the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Additionally, countries including Israel have already begun offering booster Pfizer doses to elderly people, while Germany and France are planning to administer booster doses to those who were vaccinated early on in the rollout, as well as elderly people and those with compromised immune systems.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/covid-booster-vaccines-europe/2021/08/03/dddf18f4-f45d-11eb-a636-18cac59a98dc_story.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Washington Post</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the UK is prepared to administer booster shots from September, pending approval from national health experts.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Currently, about 29 percent of the world’s population has received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, this number drops to just one percent in low-income countries, according to </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our World in Data</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant,” WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhannom Ghebryesus said on Wednesday. “But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it.”</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">The price of vaccine inequity is the unnecessary loss of human lives - someone's parent, child, partner or friend. We have the tools and the means to deliver them to the people whose lives could still be saved. Let's use them NOW. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VaccinEquity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VaccinEquity</a></p> — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1425108886818856965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02109-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">An analysis</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> conducted by the organisation has found that if the 11 countries rolling out or considering rolling out booster shots were to give a third dose to everyone over the age of 50, they would use roughly 440 million doses from the global supply.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We need an urgent reversal, from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries, to the majority going to low-income countries,” Tedros said.</span></p>

Body

Placeholder Content Image

Director’s cuts: Are they better than regular movies?

<p>Ridley Scott and James Cameron did it, and George Lucas never stops. Directors ceaselessly return to their work to tweak, tinker, chop and change.</p> <p>Extended Cut, Definitive Version, Special Edition: the list goes on.</p> <p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10643608/">Apocalypse Now: Final Cut</a>, Francis Ford Coppola’s supposedly definitive version of his 1979 epic Vietnam war film, will be released in Australia today. But are these new versions just an excuse for obsessive tinkering and self-indulgence?</p> <p>The director’s cut refers to a version of the film that remains closest to the director’s original vision, rather than the theatrical version officially released by the studio. In an era of DVD and streaming services, these alternative cuts are becoming increasingly attractive to studio boss, director and movie lover alike.</p> <p>These “new” films, often only fractionally altered, throw the commerce versus art equation that has underpinned Hollywood for more than a century into sharp relief. The studio gets another chance to market a beloved film, the fans can endlessly debate the differences between the old and new version, while the director can once more return to the editing studio, elusively seeking perfection. In that sense, everyone wins.</p> <p>With director’s cuts, the romantic myth of the brilliant (usually male) director battling against numbers-obsessed Hollywood is also reinforced.</p> <p><strong>The good and the bad</strong></p> <p>Director’s cuts often seek to rectify an injustice. Studio executives will often demand last-minute edits or reshoots if test screenings go badly. Directors who bitterly complained about how studios altered their vision can now go back and showcase the film as it was meant to be seen.</p> <p>For example, director David Ayer <a href="https://screenrant.com/suicide-squad-cut-david-ayer-different/">recently acknowledged</a> his original cut of the dark superhero film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386697/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">Suicide Squad</a> was radically different to the studio-sanctioned release. The studio requested significant reshoots to lighten the tone and inject more comedy – but the “Ayer cut” only can be accessed on DVD and Blu-ray.</p> <p>Other director’s cuts improve on the original version by bolstering visual scope, narrative continuity and emotional engagement. For example, the 17 minutes of deleted footage from James Cameron’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">Aliens</a> (1986), since restored to the 1990 Special Edition, are a masterclass in building tension and deepening character.</p> <p>Ridley Scott’s endless reworking of the science-fiction/neo-noir <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2">Blade Runner</a> remains the gold standard. First released in 1982, Scott oversaw a new version ten years on, and then the so-called Final Cut in 2007 (re-released on Blu-ray in 2017). He removed the ponderous voice-over from Deckard (Harrison Ford), axed the happy ending and inserted opaque dream sequences that continue to nourish the film’s philosophical ambiguities.</p> <p>But some directors just do not know when to stop. To coincide with the 20 year anniversary of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/?ref_=ttmi_tt">Star Wars</a> in 1997, George Lucas created a digitally remastered Special Edition (spruced up versions of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080684/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Empire Strikes Back</a> (1980) and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">Return of the Jedi</a> (1983) followed a few weeks later). Lucas stuffed the trilogy with reinstated scenes, polished up degraded images and sound and reaped extraordinary success (<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/02/01/20-years-ago-star-wars-special-edition-made-star-wars-special-again/#2835bb712a61">US$472 million</a> at the global box office was mightily impressive for a trilogy nearly two decades old).</p> <p>There was only one problem – the Special Editions were castigated by fans. Many resented the retrofitted visuals and jarring CGI enhancements; for others, the most egregious alteration – having bounty hunter Greedo now shoot Han Solo first in a Mos Eisley cantina – compromised Han’s character arc from rogue to hero across the trilogy.</p> <p>Lucas’s incessant meddling (he returned to the trilogy again in 2004 and 2011) has been seen as a way of perpetually monetising the much-beloved originals. All along, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm1zaTUnoTE">his response</a> to such criticism has been consistent – he was waiting for technology to catch up to his original vision.</p> <p>As for Coppola, he has been here before. In 2001, he presented <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_Now_Redux">Apocalypse Now: Redux</a> to ecstatic reviews during the Cannes Film Festival. Nearly an hour of footage cut from the 1979 version was reinserted, including the famously woozy “French plantation” scene. This new version was hailed as extraordinary – “redux” means “a work of art presented in a new way”.</p> <p>But Coppola clearly was not done. Apocalypse Now: Final Cut premiered in New York back in April, 19 minutes shorter than Redux. In Final Cut, <a href="https://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/apocalypse-now-2019">Coppola has</a> finessed the colour balance and sound design, no doubt hoping to add to the film’s hallucinogenic qualities.</p> <p>Despite the important contributions of <a href="https://theconversation.com/apocalypse-now-turns-40-rediscovering-the-genesis-of-a-film-classic-113448">writer John Milius</a>, cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and sound designer and editor Walter Murch, this latest version reinforces the romantic idea of the director as the sole auteur.</p> <p>Coppola’s fingerprints are all over Final Cut. Here is a powerful director who, like Spielberg, Lucas and Scott, has been given endless opportunities to refine his vision. This tells us a lot about Hollywood’s commodification of the auteur and the ongoing importance of the director’s name in selling a product.</p> <p>“A work of art is never completed, only abandoned”, noted the French poet Paul Valéry. Apocalypse Now: Final Cut is the latest exhibit to suggest films are never really finished – the artistic process is endlessly reworkable.</p> <p><em>Written by Ben McCann. Republished with permission of </em><a href="https://theconversation.com/from-star-wars-to-apocalypse-now-directors-cuts-are-all-the-rage-but-do-they-make-the-films-any-better-120755"><em>The Conversation</em></a><em>.</em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Leaving Neverland: Director says police are convinced of Michael Jackson’s guilt

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The director of the explosive </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Leaving Neverland</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> documentary has claimed that police who investigated Michael Jackson over child sex abuse claims were convinced of the singer’s guilt.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jackson is facing renewed allegations that he molested children after the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Leaving Neverland</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> documentary aired graphic claims from Wade Robson and James Safechuck.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The claims have angered the Jackson family and fans of his music.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, director Dan Reed said that their allegations went through a vigorous process of fact-checking.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking to </span><a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/none-of-them-had-any-doubts-at-all-about-his-guilt-leaving-neverland-director-dan-reed/news-story/b44cc1532b5cb88b76b15c3f3d8abe79"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Morning Show</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Reed explained that he “went in with an open mind” before becoming convinced of Jackson’s guilt. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I didn’t approach this in a naive way. I listened very carefully to days and days and days of interview, then we went and did about 18 months of research and checked everything we could and tried to poke holes in Wade and James’ accounts,” Reed explained.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We didn’t find anything that cast any doubt on their accounts — on the contrary, we found a lot of corroborating evidence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I interviewed the police investigators and the sheriff’s department investigators who were part of looking into Michael Jackson’s background, and none of them had any doubts at all about his guilt.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reed explained that he was worried about the impact that the documentary would have on Jackson’s children, but the stories of Robson and Safechuck needed to be told.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The politics of the Jackson clan is very complicated and this supposed attempted suicide of Paris, which she has immediately denied, that’s very puzzling. I don’t know what’s going on there,” Reed said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Jackson’s children had nothing to do with the sexual abuse and of course they’re upset that their dad is being accused of all this stuff. But these allegations have been around for decades now and they won’t come as any surprise to the kids.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I feel for them, I wish them the very best, but the truth must come out because I think this is an important story.”</span></p>

Music

Placeholder Content Image

Reese Witherspoon opens up about horror assault by director aged just 16

<p>Reese Witherspoon has revealed she was assaulted by a famous Hollywood director at age 16, during a Hollywood event honouring the <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/movies/2017/10/nicole-kidman-and-cate-blanchett-on-harvey-weinstein-scandal/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>women who have spoken out</strong></span></a> in detail about sexual assault and harassment in the film industry.</p> <p>Witherspoon told the audience at Elle Woman, <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/movies/2017/10/jane-fonda-ashamed-of-the-secret-she-kept-about-harvey-weinstein/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>recent allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein</strong></span></a> had prompted her to share her own experiences.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-video"> <p dir="ltr">Reese Witherspoon is the latest celebrity to come forward to talk about how she was sexually assaulted by a Hollywood director. Witherspoon opened up about being sexually assaulted at age 16: "I have found it hard to sleep, hard to think, hard to communicate." <a href="https://t.co/MQHKeePs32">pic.twitter.com/MQHKeePs32</a></p> — Pop Crave (@PopCrave) <a href="https://twitter.com/PopCrave/status/920316259362852870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2017</a></blockquote> <p>Witherspoon said she had "true disgust at the director who assaulted me when I was 16-years-old and anger at the agents and the producers who made me feel that silence was a condition of my employment".</p> <p>Witherspoon hasn’t named the director at this stage. </p> <p>The actress also expressed regret for not being more vocal about her experience earlier, and claimed she felt anxiety about being honest, and guilt for not speaking out earlier.</p> <p>What are your thoughts?</p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Night of the Living Dead director George A. Romero dies at 77

<p>George A. Romero, famed director and father of the zombie film genre, has died at the age of 77. The legendary filmmaker passed away in his sleep after a “brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer” while listening to the score of 1952’s <em>The Quiet Man</em> with his family by his side, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-me-george-romero-20170716-story.html" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">according to</span></strong></a> his long-time producing partner Peter Grunwald.</p> <p>Romero is often credited with reinventing the zombie film genre with his cult classic 1968 movie, <em>Night of the Living Dead</em>. His creation would go on to set the standard for every zombie-themed film and TV show after it – an undead creature that moved slowly, fed on human flesh and could only be killed if shot in the head.</p> <p>However, it wasn’t all horror and gore to Romero. In his films, the creatures served as metaphors for the social issues of the time – racism, capitalism and classicism, for example.</p> <p>“They [the zombies] could be an avalanche, they could be a hurricane,” he said in 2008. “It’s a disaster out there. The stories are about how people fail to respond in the proper way. They fail to address it. They keep trying to stick where they are, instead of recognising maybe this is too big for us to try to maintain. That’s the part of it that I’ve always enjoyed.”</p> <p>The hit debut film, made for around US$114,000, grossed $30 million upon release and was added to the Library of Congress’ National Registry of Films in 1999, having been deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.</p> <p>Romero followed up the movie’s success with 1978’s <em>Dawn of the Dead</em> and 1985’s <em>Day of the Dead</em>. Three others in the series were produced throughout the 2000s, and two more are due in the future – another sequel next year, and a prequel written by Romero’s son.</p> <p>He is survived by wife Suzanne Desrocher and their filmmaker son Cameron, as well as children Andrew and Tina from a previous marriage.</p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Hollywood director Garry Marshall dies aged 81

<p>Hollywood director Garry Marshall has died age 81, from complications from pneumonia after a stroke in Burbank, California.</p> <p>The writer-director is known for creating iconic 1970s television shows <em>Happy Days</em> and <em>Mork and Mindy</em>. He was also famous for directing hit films <em>Pretty Woman</em>, <em>Beaches</em> and T<em>he Princess Diaries.</em></p> <p>In more recent years, Marshall directed popular romantic comedies <em>Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve</em> and <em>Mother's Day.</em></p> <p>Hollywood is mourning the showbiz legend today, taking to social media to post tributes describing Marshall as a “genius” and “mentor”.</p> <p>Henry Winkler, who played cultural icon Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli, in <em>Happy Days</em> took to twitter to praise Marshall, saying he was "larger than life, funnier than most, wise and the definition of friend".</p> <p>Marshall had been a director, producer, writer and actor during his decades-long career in Hollywood.</p> <p>Our thoughts are with his family at this time.</p> <p>RIP, Gary Marshall. </p> <p><strong>Related links: </strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/entertainment/movies/2016/06/incredible-actors-who-havent-won-an-oscar/"><em>8 incredible actors who haven’t won an Oscar</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/entertainment/movies/2016/05/8-classic-films-getting-remakes/"><em>8 classic films getting remakes</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/entertainment/movies/2016/05/most-expensive-films-ever-made/"><em>The 15 most expensive films ever made</em></a></strong></span></p>

News