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LeMonde
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- LeMonde
'Lilo & Stitch': Disney's pleasant surprise
LE MONDE'S VERDICT – WORTH SEEING Just a few months ago, Disney left audiences with a sour taste in their mouths: After numerous controversies and a wave of widely followed boycotts, Snow White, released in theaters in March, proved to be the biggest financial failure in the company's history and one of the most trying live-action Disney films to watch. Released without controversy or excessive hype, Lilo & Stitch – the live-action adaptation of the 2002 animated film – may well be the first step toward reconciling with the public. Heavily inspired by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982), the film recounts the daily life of Lilo, a rambunctious 6-year-old orphan raised by her older sister, who is herself closely monitored by social services threatening to take away her custody. At the moment when Lilo must be on her best behavior, she adopts Stitch, a strange pet as hyperactive as she is. What she does not know is that Stitch is an extraterrestrial creature being pursued by his creators, who want to bring him back to their spaceship. The film's relative success rests on a simple point: Lilo & Stitch is not a fairy tale, but a story rooted in a real place: a small Hawaiian island where real people live, with everyday routines, customs and struggles that drive the plot. In other words, for once, live actors actually seem to be interacting with more than just green screens. Far from being – as is often the case – the main attraction, special effects are kept to a minimum here, used mainly to bring Stitch, the living plush toy (and a dream merchandising product), and the fantasy creatures at the edge of the story to life.
New York Post
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘E.T.' star Dee Wallace reveals she ‘argued' with Steven Spielberg over toning down bedroom scene
'E.T.' nearly wasn't so family friendly. Dee Wallace appeared on Steve Kmetko's 'Still Here Hollywood' podcast last week and recalled how she clashed with director Steven Spielberg over a bedroom scene involving her character, Mary, in the 1982 film. 'The only time Steven and I parted ways creatively was there's a whole B story in 'E.T.' about E.T. having a love affair with Mary, a love crush on Mary,' the 76-year-old actress explained. 12 Dee Wallace and Steven Spielberg attend the 40th anniversary screening of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' at the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival. Getty Images for TCM 'And there's little bits of it left in there,' she continued. 'There was a scene where he came in to put Reese's Pieces down on my bedside table as I'm asleep. Well, Mr. Spielberg wanted the sheet a little lower than I was comfortable with.' Wallace said that she 'argued my point that this was a family film.' 12 Dee Wallace on the 'Still Here Hollywood' podcast. Still Here Hollywood Podcast w/ Steve Kmetko/YouTube 12 Dee Wallace and Steve Kmetko. Still Here Hollywood Podcast w/ Steve Kmetko/YouTube 12 Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace in 'E.T.' ©Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection 'I could understand the parents smoking pot in 'Poltergeist.' But this film was very pure to me. And it was about love,' Wallace shared, adding that producer Kathleen Kennedy and writer Melissa Mathison got involved and sided with Wallace over Spielberg, 78. 'So we compromised and pulled the sheet up almost to my shoulder blades, which I was okay with,' Wallace said. 12 Dee Wallace at the 20th anniversary of 'E.T.' in Los Angeles in 2002. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images 12 Steven Spielberg filming a movie in Montville, New Jersey in Feb. 2025. GC Images 'That's pretty high,' joked Kmetko, 72, to which Wallace replied, 'Not to a girl from Kansas who knew her grandmother was gonna be watching.' 'You can take the girl out of Kansas, you can't take Kansas out of the girl,' she added with a laugh. 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' was Spielberg's seventh directorial feature film in his career. 12 Steven Spielberg at the 2023 Oscars. John Locher/Invision/AP The film, which follows a young boy who befriends an alien stranded on Earth, also stars Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton and Drew Barrymore. On the podcast, Wallace remembered knowing 'E.T.' would be a hit the first time she watched it in theaters. 'I could tell just from the way the audience responded,' she said. 'That film reaches into your soul, into your heart. It surpasses some block that we have and wakes us up.' 12 Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace in 'E.T.' ©Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection 12 Robert MacNaughton, Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote in 2002. Courtesy Everett Collection 12 Peter Coyote, Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace in 'E.T.' Courtesy Everett Collection Wallace also said that at the time she foresaw Barrymore, 50, would have a big career eventually. 'We knew from day one she was gonna be a producer and director,' she explained. 'I'm sitting in a high director's chair, first day on set, and she comes up to me and she goes, 'Dee, I'm going to sit in your lap now.' And I said, 'Okay, Drew, come on up.' I mean, she just knew what she wanted, that one.' 12 Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas on the set of 'E.T.' in 1982. Courtesy Everett Collection Earlier this year, Spielberg discussed the film with Barrymore at a TCM Classic Film Festival event and revealed he went through a 'real hard-fought' battle to stop a sequel from being made. 12 Steven Spielberg attends the AFI Life Achievement Award Ceremony in April 2025. WireImage 'I just did not want to make a sequel. I flirted with it for a little bit — just a little bit to see if I [could] think of a story — and the only thing I could think about was a book that was written by somebody that wrote the book for it called 'The Green Planet,' which was all going to take place at E.T.'s home,' he explained, per THR. 'We were all going to be able to go to E.T.'s home and see how E.T. lived,' Spielberg added. 'But it was better as a novel than I think it would have been as a film.'
Washington Post
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Why the ‘Rust' director finished the movie — and left out its tragic scene
Joel Souza says he and Halyna Hutchins weren't the most obvious collaborators. Whereas the American filmmaker's ambitions were shaped early on by his childhood infatuation with Amblin Entertainment's 1980s hits — think 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' and 'The Goonies' — Hutchins, a Ukrainian cinematographer, spent her formative years watching what Souza describes as smaller 'art films.' And yet the two found a common language when Souza brought Hutchins on board as director of photography on 'Rust,' a $7.5 million western starring Alec Baldwin as a gruff 19th-century outlaw who must come to the rescue of his fugitive grandson (Patrick Scott McDermott). Souza was optimistic about the work they would create together. He couldn't have known that his sixth feature film, which he started developing a decade after his directorial debut, would be the one to drastically alter both their lives. For a while, things went smoothly. Souza and Hutchins shared a love of the enduring American genre and talked at length about movies such as 'Days of Heaven,' 'Unforgiven' and 'No Country for Old Men.' They spent hours scouting locations in New Mexico, climbing hills and driving toward far-off mountaintops as they worked together to determine how they could best make use of daylight hitting the vast desert landscapes. 'The DP is the person I work with more than anyone,' Souza, 51, says in late April over a Zoom call from his home in Pleasanton, California. So how does it feel for 'Rust' to be released without Hutchins celebrating by his side? The film will be widely available on-demand Friday, more than three years after Hutchins, 42, was fatally shot on set by a prop gun that discharged in Baldwin's hands. ('Rust' will also play in select theaters, but not at any in Washington.) The Oscar-nominated actor was cleared of criminal wrongdoing last year when a judge dismissed his involuntary manslaughter case over mishandled evidence. Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, tasked with handling weapons on set, was found guilty of the same charge and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Assistant director David Halls was charged under a plea deal with negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months of unsupervised probation. After years of unrelenting controversy and tense legal proceedings, 'there's a real sense of crossing a finish line,' Souza says. 'That chapter of things closes … Friday. I guess there's relief in that.' Souza, who was hit in the shoulder by remnants of the same rogue bullet that traveled through Hutchins's chest in October 2021, was reluctant to return to 'Rust' when he heard producers were thinking of starting things up again about a year after the incident. It was only when he confirmed with Hutchins's husband, Matthew, that he and Hutchins's Ukrainian family hoped for the public to see her final work that Souza decided to reassume his position as director. Matthew became an executive producer on the film as part of a settlement that also stipulated he and the couple's young son, Andros, would receive a portion of its profits. 'There were people saying both 'How can you do this?' and 'How can you not do this?'' Souza says. 'I don't begrudge anybody their opinion. All I can say is … I had to see it through for her.' Hutchins was killed on Day 12 of what was scheduled to be a 21-day shoot, Souza says. When 'Rust' resumed production in April 2023, they wound up shooting for 26 or 27 days, allowing for a more 'manageable schedule.' Hutchins was replaced by cinematographer Bianca Cline ('Marcel the Shell With Shoes On'), who worked with Souza to salvage as much of her predecessor's work and overall vision as she could. There was a fair amount of crew member turnover when the production moved from New Mexico's Bonanza Creek Ranch to Montana's Yellowstone Film Ranch. But many of the actors were able to return — including Baldwin, who had developed the story with Souza and was a producer on the project. Baldwin's initial charge of involuntary manslaughter was dropped right before shooting resumed in 2023. He was indicted again on the same charge in January 2024 and was once again cleared that July. 'I don't know that there was ever a more difficult movie made than this,' Souza says, adding of Baldwin: 'It was emotionally fraught for everybody. I'm sure it was emotionally fraught for him. It wasn't easy. I'm sure I wasn't easy. But at the end of the day, we finished it, so.' The director, who otherwise speaks freely about his experiences on 'Rust,' responds tersely when asked whether he has remained in touch with Baldwin: 'There's this thing where they always want people who make movies together to be best friends,' he says. 'It's like, I don't know, are you best friends with someone you worked with for two months, once? It doesn't work that way.' At the very least, actors tend to reunite with their director to promote a film before its release. But Baldwin hasn't conducted any high-profile interviews to promote 'Rust' and was not invited to its November premiere at the Energa Camerimage film festival in Poland. There has been minimal marketing for the western overall — an echo of how Miramax years ago handled 'The Crow,' the 1994 superhero movie on the set of which 28-year-old Brandon Lee, the lead actor, was also killed by a prop gun. Back then, David Dinerstein, Miramax's president of marketing, told the Los Angeles Times that 'what happened is not something we're running from. But we have to be very sensitive to Brandon's memory, his family and the film.' Marketing materials for 'The Crow' didn't mention the accident. Neither does the 'Rust' trailer. 'There are no winners in marketing this movie,' says Monica Koyama, a communications professor at the University of Southern California who worked on Hollywood campaigns for 25 years. 'If you acknowledge the tragedy too much, it takes away from the film and moves the spotlight away from the actual work. At the same time, you have to acknowledge it. Everybody's talking about it.' Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, mentioned the on-set incident about 90 seconds into the February premiere of their critically panned TLC reality series, 'The Baldwins.' Hilaria starts off by saying: 'The hardest part about this is that a woman lost her life. A son lost his mom.' Alec notes that he has 'never been through anything like this in my life,' after which the audio cuts to Hilaria asking out loud: 'Where do you go from a tragedy?' Souza doesn't have the answer. But he made sure he did everything he could to prevent another catastrophe from occurring on the Montana set. He says the new armorer, Andrew Wert, worked with replica weapons and built custom props that 'might as well have been paperweights.' 'Nothing on the second go-around was capable of firing,' Souza says. 'It was all done with CGI.' Baldwin was rehearsing a scene set in a church when the revolver discharged in 2021. When Souza returned to the project, he cut the scene and rewrote those around it. 'There's no trace of it,' he says. The filmmaker didn't want viewers playing detective, trying to figure out which sequence was the one that led to Hutchins's untimely death. He hates that people remember her final moments most, and instead tries to focus on his memories of her radiant spirit and enthusiasm for her craft. 'I think of her skipping from setup to setup — not because we were pressed for time, but because she wouldn't wait to do the next one,' Souza says. 'No one loved making movies like she did.
The Star
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Radical!: 50-year-old man's love for BMX shreds expectations
PETALING JAYA: Despite his age, a man from Shah Alam is defying gravity and proving that his passion for riding BMX bikes never fades. The 50-year-old IT programmer, Alan Chew, said he was inspired by two movies he watched when he was in his younger years, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Magic BMX (1983), which inspired him to try riding BMX bikes. "After watching those films, I was hooked. I started riding BMX around 1989 and 1991, but eventually stopped due to life commitments. "Even after I stopped riding, the passion never left me. "I hope my story can inspire others, especially older riders or anyone who thinks it's too late to chase their passion," he said, when contacted on Wednesday (April 30). He said that he had always thought of getting back into it and had waited until 2017. "I finally decided to buy a new BMX bike and start shredding again. "Once I got back on the bike, I realised I loved it even more than before, and from that point on, I couldn't stop. It became part of my lifestyle and identity," he said. He added that he would normally join younger generation BMX riders together, and they have been welcoming. "We learn a lot from each other. BMX is a shared passion regardless of age," said Chew. Asked if he was part of any BMX Club, he said that he was not, but "the local BMX community is very small and tight-knit. "Most of the active riders know each other. Because of my age, I tend to stand out a bit, and I'm proud to show that age is never a barrier to doing what you love," he said.
Time of India
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Drew Barrymore reveals secret to 'aging gracefully'
(Picture Courtesy: Facebook) Hollywood star Drew Barrymore has revealed the secret to " aging gracefully " and shared that she doesn't intend to have any cosmetic surgery . In a behind-the-scenes moment on 'The Drew Barrymore Show', the actress, who celebrated her 50th birthday recently, was asked to reveal her secret to "ageing gracefully". The actress replied: "I haven't done anything and I want to try and stay that way ... but I also am like, do whatever works for you. The only thing I do know is don't judge other people because they do things differently. "We're all on our own path and we have to support each other. I see a lot of turkey neck or I have a lot of other time where I'm like 'Oh Wow, we're there now.'" Barrymore subsequently offered some thoughtful life advice to her fans, reports She said: "I want to tell myself not to be so mean to myself. How many beautiful moments do we even get the privilege of seeing our reflection and that person looking back at us is us? "So the kinder, more patient, more resilient, more loving, embracing, less dismissive that we can be, the better it is for our mental game and spiritual game, which affects the face." Barrymore added: "A smile is better than any lipstick you'll buy, and internal dialogue that isn't so eviscerating of ourselves and so quick to catch a flaw - who says that's the flaw, by the way, that might be someone else's favourite thing about you ... how ironic. It isn't how you look, it's how you feel." Earlier this year, the actress shared that she was feeling "so excited" to turn 50. The 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' star also claimed that she's happier than she's ever been in her life. She told AARP The Magazine's February/March 2025 issue: "It can't come soon enough. I feel like Frodo (in 'The Lord of the Rings'): I see that brass ring and I'm so excited! I have no issues with ageing - this is the happiest I've been in my life." Stay updated with the latest Best Hindi Movies , Best Tamil Movies , Best Telugu Movies , Best english Movies , Best Malayalam Movies
