Martian Child

Martian Child review by Variety

2007-11-17T23:23:00.000Z

Knockout performances by John Cusack and child actor Bobby Coleman help legitimize a whimsical but sententiously moralizing script about the wonders of parenting in helmer Menno Meyjes' "Martian Child." Soppy tale of a widower who adopts a kid who believes he's from Mars is transformed, through thesps' intensity, into a nicely weird, often engrossing two-hander, though no one else in the excellent cast fares as well. Since the two lead actors are almost constantly onscreen, "Martian Child" only occasionally thuds to Earth. Opening wide Nov. 2, the New Line release could find a cozy holiday niche.

David (Cusack), a successful sci-fi author still grieving for his wife two years after her death, considers adopting Dennis (Coleman), an orphan who spends most of his time in a cardboard box since, being Martian, he fears exposure to the sun. Gradually winning the boy's trust through gifts of sunglasses and sunblock, David takes Dennis into his house on a trial basis.

Sister Liz (Joan Cusack, injecting a much-needed sense of comic harassment into her thankless straight-sis part) feels David might not be ready to handle a child -- especially one who wears a weight belt so as not to float away, and steals others' belongings to collect data for future Martian study.

David bonds with Dennis through baseball games and a shared state of alienation, David himself having sought refuge in fantasy worlds as a child and even now as a professional adult imagineer. He's supported in his tentative parenting techniques by gorgeous friend Harlee (Amanda Peet), who inevitably morphs into a romantic interest as the film progresses.

School officials, orphanage boards and conventional wisdom, however, insist David's role as parent is to socialize the kid, not join him in his fantasies. Such is the conformity-vs.-self-expression axis the film drives home with a sledgehammer.

Scribes Seth E. Bass and Jonathan Tolins have adapted sci-fier David Gerrold's semi-autobiographical novella, reiterating and underscoring every truism ad nauseum. During the pic's many heavy-handed learning experiences, auds may find themselves counting the number of ways protags are exhorted to "be themselves."

Helmer Meyjes effortlessly enables the satisfyingly idiosyncratic exchanges between Cusack and Coleman, including a nifty Martian line dance, but turns clueless when dealing with the script's more egregious epiphanies. Meyjes skirts outright parody at David's book-launch party, where his publisher (Anjelica Huston) and agent (Oliver Platt) plaintively ask him why he can't just be what they want him to be.

Lacking the built-in poignancy of Cusack's other recent troubled-parent turn in "Grace Is Gone," "Martian Child" gathers all the accoutrements of the perfect family (beautiful, understanding girlfriend, adoring golden retriever) to offset a child's belief in an alternate universe from which he has been expelled. Coleman, his face gleaming palely under layers of sunblock, is genuinely offbeat enough to have auds wondering, along with Cusack, whether the kid actually arrived from another planet, yet also achingly vulnerable and perceptive enough to overcome the script's facile schmaltz.

Those seeking originality, subtlety or even serious parenting tips should look elsewhere (improbably, the word "autistic" is never uttered, even to deny the possibility that Dennis might be). But pic should satisfy those seeking warm-and-fuzzy holiday fare with a couple eminently empathetic actors.

By RONNIE SCHEIB, Variety.

John Cusack keeps 'Martian' aloft

2007-11-17T23:19:00.000Z

Men are apparently not the only ones from Mars. Small boys hail from the Red Planet, too, according to Martian Child, an occasionally schmaltzy but likable story of healing and redemption.

Though Bobby Coleman, the young actor who plays Dennis, a troubled boy who insists he's from Mars, is quite good, John Cusack is the main reason to see the film. If not for his charm and quick wit, this film could easily lapse into slick sentimentality and maudlin predictability.

Cusack plays David Gordon, a widowed sci-fi/fantasy novelist who adopts the unstable and emotionally wounded Dennis, despite the advice of his sister, a practical suburban mom (his real-life sibling, Joan Cusack). David is still reeling from the death of his wife, with whom he had planned to adopt a child.

When a group home director (Sophie Okonedo) contacts him about adopting Dennis, David demurs. Then after a tentative encounter, he decides that the boy needs him and he needs the boy.

In addition to coping with the loss of his wife, David has plenty of drama to contend with on the professional front. His agent (Oliver Platt) is on his case to finish a novel that his demanding publisher (Anjelica Huston) is awaiting. He also is growing increasingly attracted to Harlee (a likable Amanda Peet).
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Mars Martian Dennis New Line Cinema John Cusack Anjelica Huston David Gordon Joan Cusack

But mostly he's consumed with the repercussions of Dennis' strange behavior (he avoids the sun and pilfers objects at school) and the boy's difficulties in forging a connection. Given Dennis' spacey oddities, the viewer (and his new dad) can't help but wonder if the boy might actually be an alien who fell to Earth.

Cusack keeps the sickly sweetness at bay with his sharp asides and dry sense of humor. The role was written with Cusack in mind, and it shows. His usual keen intelligence, innate decency and quirky appeal is a potent mix.

If you can get past the occasional treacle, Martian Child, based on a short story by David Gerrold, works as a gently moving and offbeat tale about a boy who doesn't fit in and the transformative power of love between parent and child.

By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY.

Martian Child - Menno Meyles (Director) Interview

2007-11-17T23:13:00.003Z

Martian Child - Amanda Peet Interview

2007-11-17T23:13:00.001Z

Martian Child - Bobbie Coleman Interview

2007-11-17T23:11:00.000Z

John Cusack Interview

2007-11-17T23:08:00.000Z

Official Martian Child Trailer!

2007-11-17T10:02:00.000Z

Online preview: ‘Martian Child’

2007-10-14T23:22:00.000+01:00

“Martian Child” (Nov. 2), martianchild.com. John Cusack rolling a plastic blue ball into a torn cardboard box … and having it rolled back to him … is the first image you get here. Notice how John’s eyes follow the ball and how bored he looks. Kind of like you reading this item. Fortunately, there’s more (to the site), but it’s all basic now. The trailer tells you “Dennis” is in the box because he thinks he’s from Mars. Cusack plays a sci-fi writer who might relate to him. The photo section is clever because the boy likes to take pictures. Click on the Polaroids around his feet. Watch the promotions section for new deals.

Ward Triplett, The Star

'Martian Child' poster!

2007-10-14T23:17:00.001+01:00

'Martian Child' poster!

Amanda Peet Photoshoot

2007-08-08T16:52:00.000+01:00

Sophie Okonedo Biography

2007-08-06T12:01:00.000+01:00

Date of Birth
1 January 1969, London, England, UK

Height
5' 8" (1.73 m)

Trivia
Trained at RADA

She is of half Nigerian/half European-Jewish heritage, but is a born and raised Brit.

Has a daughter, Aoife, from a relationship with Irish film editor Eoin Martin. She is no longer with him.

Invited to join AMPAS in 2005.

She is a graduate of Cambridge University.

In 2005, Okenedo became the first black actress since Angela Bassett in 1994 to receive an NAACP Image Award nomination for the same role in which she was nominated for an Oscar. Previous Oscar nominees Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Halle Berry and Queen Latifah were not nominated by the NAACP for the same roles.

Personal Quotes
I don't like going for more than a year without doing theatre. I don't mind falling flat on my face so long as I feel I'm open to the possibility of something extraordinary happening.

But I'm pretty secure about who I am. Anything that's truthful I'm not ashamed of.

When I do things that aren't very good, I'm worse as an actor. I don't know what I pick up - but it's something not very nice.

I'd hate to lose the character actress part of me, because, by God, the parts are much more interesting. As a black actress all I was offered in British film was the best friend role, whereas in TV I was offered a whole spectrum of parts. I'd love to be able to follow that through into my newly-formed film career which I didn't expect to get at 36!

I'm drawn to stories about ordinary people who get tangled up in an extraordinary event or idea or emotion. I'm not saying I don't love films about super-people or super-doctors, but my preference is for stories about how we get through this life, what it is to be human, because I'm always struggling with it myself.

Without hammering you over the head with it, the movie gets you to ask questions. That's what good movies do.

"I'm just going where the stories are. I'll quite happily work in a tiny theater in the middle of nowhere if it's the right story. It always leaves a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth when I do something purely for money. I always end up being absolute shit in it. I'm not really an actor who can make rubbish writing good. Some people are very good at it. It's a real skill."

From IMDB

Martian Child Fansite

2007-08-05T23:17:00.000+01:00

The Martian Child Fansite

Join it here

John Cusack Interview About "The Ice Harvest"

2007-08-05T23:08:00.000+01:00

John Cusack Interview About "The Ice Harvest"

John Cusack on "The Ice Harvest," the Film's Tone, and Relatable Characters

John Cusack on "The Ice Harvest," the Film's Tone, and Relatable Characters
John Cusack on Character Development and the Blend of Genres in “The Ice Harvest:” Cusack stars as a mob lawyer who rips off his boss in "The Ice Harvest," co-starring Billy Bob Thornton.

“It’s obviously a crime story, but we relate to these characters. It’s about the illusions of the American dream and fitting into that, and guys at the end of their rope. But I don't think we do it because we go, ‘Okay, let’s blend this genre with this’ or ‘let’s do this with this.’ You get inspired by the characters. Or you think, ‘Oh man, that’s a piece of writing that is so true. This is interesting.’ And then later we put labels on it to sell it or to do these things.

It does come in a tradition of those films, of the noir films, but it was just these portraits of white malehood in America that are just so disastrous.
I thought [my character] Charlie had this great comic, quiet desperation to him. I thought there were some other themes that were so interesting.
There was no outward polemics to the movie. It doesn’t talk about left and right. I’m sure neither one of these guys care who’s president. It’s not about that at all. But there is this kind of subtle, these subtle jabs at consumerism. These guys kind of went into some version of the American dream about get the house, get the money, get the trophy wife, get the girl on the side, get the material possessions, get the great car. Get more women. Get more drink. And none of it’s making them happy and none of it’s fulfilling them.

I remember Arthur Miller said an era can be considered over when its basic illusions have been exhausted. And I thought of that. I go, ‘Yeah, these guys are just exhausted. None of it’s working.’ So they trade in that American dream and then go, ‘All right, we’ll do the outlaw dream where we make the big last score and hit the open road.’ And that’s pathetic and funny, too. These guys are lost in this dream world, or Charlie is. So why we respond to something, I don't know. Is it because it’s a noir? Is it a genre, or we’re going to do this genre? No. We just see these characters and we go, ‘Oh no, my god, they’re so fascinating.’”

John Cusack on the Contradictory Nature of the Characters in “The Ice Harvest:” “…I thought that was what was so real about it. I don't think anybody views themselves…most people view themselves as good guys but I don't think anybody views themselves as a bad guy. I think we rationalize things and we get put in these bizarre situations. These guys are definitely custodians of their own realities. They made their mess; they’re responsible for it.

No matter how low you get, I think people always want to be redeemed and they want to be free and they want to be loved. They want all those things. And then they find themselves in these horrible situations and then they have these impulses to be better than that. I don't know, that’s how I see them.”

John Cusack Reunites With His “Pushing Tin” Co-Star Billy Bob Thornton in "The Ice Harvest:" “He’s great. I really love working with him. Love it. Love it. He’ll go anywhere ,do anything. There’s nothing he wouldn’t try on a movie set. Not that you’d do it all the time, but the freedom of knowing somebody’s going to go with you anywhere you want to go. And he’s so funny and so talented, so sensitive, such a smart man.”

John Cusack Recalls Picking Up a Script and Seeing “Written by Richard Russo and Robert Benton:” “That’s one of the reasons I opened it. You see ‘The Ice Harvest’ and then you see Benton and Russo and you go, ‘Ohhh…’ You want to read. One of these guys is a Pulitzer Prize winner and the other guy, I don't know how many Academy Awards he’s won for writing and directing. He wrote ‘Bonnie and Clyde,’ didn’t he? [He did] This is a great writer, a great filmmaker, so you know you’ll want to see what they’re going to do with this.

At first, I read it and I thought - it might have been just where I was in my life but I started reading it - and I went, ‘Oh, man, I don’t want to do [this]. This is too dark.’ I didn’t realize it was funny or a comedy because it was so real. It was so gritty. Then I started to understand there were some of those elements of satirical Americana in there. And then I thought it was funny. As soon as I realized it was going to be funny and grim, then I thought, ‘Oh man, this is something to do.’ And I wanted to work with Harold.”

John Cusack Praises His “The Ice Harvest” Director Harold Ramis: “He’s a great director. Amazingly bright man. And he’s been around a lot of these, I think, seminal things in comedy and film for a long time - and TV. ‘Animal House,’ ‘Second City Television,’ ‘Lampoon,’ I mean those actually were as groundbreaking to me in terms of thinking of comedy and film as Monty Python was. These were the real stars and subversive and intelligent and counterculture and disgusting yet sophisticated. He’s been around some of these really important things to me.”

From movies.about.com

The Ice Harvest (2005)

2007-08-05T22:55:00.000+01:00

The Ice Harvest (2005) with John Cusack and Oliver Platt

A wickedly funny thriller that takes moviegoers on a wild ride brimming with larceny, lust and lethal behavior. In icebound Wichita, Kansas, it's Christmas Eve, and this year Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) just might have something to celebrate. Charlie, an attorney for the sleazy businesses of Wichita, and his unsavory associate, the steely Vic Cavanaugh (Billy Bob Thornton) have just successfully embezzled $2 million from Kansas City boss Bill Guerrard (Randy Quaid). But the real prize for Charlie is the stunning Renata (Connie Nielsen), who runs the Sweet Cage strip club. Charlie hopes to slip out of town with Renata. But as daylight fades and an ice storm whirls, everyone from Charlie's drinking buddy Pete Van Heuten (Oliver Platt) to the local police begin to wonder just what exactly is in Charlie's Christmas stocking - and the 12 hours of Christmas Eve are filled with surprises. Written by focus features

More Info IMDB

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Interview: Oliver Platt for "The Ice Harvest"

2007-08-05T22:38:00.000+01:00

Interview: Oliver Platt for "The Ice Harvest"

Oliver Platt knows how to play a drunk and loser with more effortless harm than any actor working in Hollywood. But he is as equally diverse as recent stints in the likes of TV's Huff, for which he has attained an Emmy nomination and the dark comedy, The Ice Harvest. A hulking character actor who brings new meaning to the concept of versatility, Oliver Platt has appeared in a dizzying array of films that make him instantly recognizable but not instantly placeable to the average filmgoer. Since making his screen debut as an oily Wall Street drone in Mike Nichols' Working Girl (1988), Platt has lent his talents to almost every conceivable genre, including period dramas, political comedies, children's films, and campy horror movies.

The son of a U.S. Ambassador, Platt was born in Windsor on January 12, 1960, Platt and his family soon moved to Washington, D.C. Thanks to his father's job, he had an exceptionally itinerant childhood. By the time he was 18, he had attended 12 different schools in places as diverse as Tokyo, the Middle East, and Colorado. Long interested in acting, Platt received a BA in drama from Boston's Tufts University; following graduation, he remained in Boston for three years to pursue his stage career. In 1986 he moved to New York, where he performed in a number of off-Broadway productions and had the lead in the 1989 Lincoln Center production of Ubu. ollowing his screen debut in Working Girl, Platt began finding steady work in such films as Married to the Mob (1988), Postcards from the Edge (1990), Beethoven (1992) -- which featured him and future collaborator Stanley Tucci as puppy thieves -- and Benny and Joon (1993).

He also proved himself adept at cheesy period drama in The Three Musketeers (1993), which cast him as Porthos, and at all-out comedy, as demonstrated by his turn as a struggling comic in Funny Bones (1995). Rarely cast as a leading man, Platt has always been visible in substantial supporting roles, equally comfortable at portraying nice guys, bad guys, and just flat out weird guys alike. As Ashley Judd's suitor in Simon Birch (1998), he was the straight man, while in The Impostors (1998), his second collaboration with Tucci (two years earlier he served as associate producer for the latter's Big Night), he again displayed his capacity for broad physical comedy as a struggling actor who finds himself a stowaway on an ocean liner. In Dangerous Beauty (1998), Platt was able to exercise his nasty side as a bitter nobleman-turned-religious zealot in 16th-century Venice; that same year, his capacity for exasperated quirkiness was displayed in Bulworth, which cast him as Warren Beatty's put-upon, coke-snorting campaign manager.

1999 proved to be a somewhat disappointing year for Platt, as two of his films, Three to Tango (which featured him as a gay architect) and the schlock-horror Lake Placid, which cast him as an idiosyncratic mythology expert, were both critical and commercial flops. A third film that year, Bicentennial Man -- in which Platt played the scientist who turns the titular robot (Robin Williams) into a man -- fared somewhat better. The following year, Platt's comic abilities were again on display in Gun Shy, in which he hammed it up as a bottom-rung mafioso with an overblown ego. Since then, apart from his Emmy-nominated turn in TV's Huff, Platt's diverse film credits include Ready to Rumble, Don't Say A Word, Hope Springs, Pieces of April, Loverboy and Kinsey, with both Ice Harvest and Casanova due out within weeks of each other. In this exclusive interview, the always affable actor talked to Garth Franklin.

Question: Now you're a Diplomats son, you have this sort of early kind of seemingly exotic background. How exotic was it and how does it prepare you for the life of a nomadic actor?

Platt: Well you know I think that is the key word, you are definitely prepared for that part because you are very comfortable as much as it is on some level it is very unsettling on a superficial or outward level you're very comfortable, too comfortable you know packing your bags at the drop of a hat and going somewhere. But I think in a weird way you know without knowing it if you grow up and you move all the time and you get exposed to a lot of different cultures you become quite adapted, assimilating you know because especially as a kid you kind of want to you want to fit in and so you automatically go, even if you are not aware of it you are automatically going how do they walk here, how do they talk here, what do I have to do to be like these people and I think that is the sad truth about but though maybe it has served me and a lot of people like me.

Question: Did you feel that background was something that was conducive to your desire to be an actor, was it?

Platt: I think to call it a desire is a in my case quite romantic notion. For me it actually had more to do with you know necessity and survivals in the sense that I audition for play...Christmas play when I was 8 years old and I was at a new school that I was very unhappy at and I was like the only new kid in my class and I was quite isolated and miserable and I audition for the play, Christmas play and I was the Inn Keeper that turned Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus away from the inn, I had one line I said, 'Here there is no rest or bed for poor folks such as ye, the rich they lodge here but they pay plentiful'. And the whole place for whatever reason, either my timing was good that night or I said it with a certain vigour, but the whole place went nuts when the Inn Keeper turned Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus away, I don't know if they were supposed to but when your are...so that God knows when you are standing up on stage in front of 400 people and everybody goes nuts you notice it.

Question: So it is that sense of recognition that about you...

Platt: Well just response, you know what I mean a very primitive sense of response and hate to use the word but approval.

Question: So when did that develop into a need to do more of that you think?

Platt: Well again if...I didn't stop moving at 8 I kept on moving and so you know what I found is that it is a way if I were to just audition for the play I would invariably get a part and you have a kind of automatic group of friends to hang out with, which is a very powerful thing when you are nomad.

Question: How did that nomadic experience effect you in terms of your own emotional develop, I mean was it tough?

Platt: It was very tough. It is very tough being a new kid all the time and you revaluate this stuff as you get older, I mean 1 at the end of the day I am incredibly lucky because 1 of 2 things happens to family like that that move all of the time, they either disintegrate very quickly or they get very, very close and fortunately the later situation evolved with my family.

Question: Does it reflect what happens with your own children now?

Platt: Well it reflects I am determined to move my children as little as possible, I mean I do the travelling to work at a necessity but I like that we are very, very careful. I mean I would love to raise my kids in one place if I could but you have to understand I mean I think that in itself is arguably an overreaction you know, it is okay to move once or twice in your life not the end of the world people survive it all the time and I moved 12 times and I am okay. But that is right and you just don't want to perpetrate on your own kids what you feel was perpetrated on you. Of course my parents, my father was just making a living doing his job and like I say we are very lucky that we are close as an extended family.

Question: When did you realise that you wanted to be an actor professionally that this is something that you could actually make a living doing?

Platt: I didn't I was too stupid to know that it was in insane thing to aspire to and I didn't do anything else I mean you kind of gravitate towards your talent and again my parents were and this is very unusual this but my parents were always tremendously supportive and I didn't really realise what a blessing that was until much later on till I did start to work as an actor and surrounded myself with professional actors for real, I said this is very unusual.

Question: Was there a backup plan?

Platt: You know sure there is an abstract... I don't know my backup plan is that maybe I would be you know I don't know a rock star...

Question: So nothing realistic.

Platt: Nothing remotely realistic. Not a musician a rock star.

Question: An actual rock star. But you don't see yourself as a movie star though, do you?

Platt: No I absolutely don't... and when I say rock star that shows... I more highlighted the absurdity of the back up plan.

Question: Are you glad that you've become a character actor as opposed to a movie star, a John Cusack type, I suppose a leading man, whatever that is?

Platt: You know I feel very fortunate that my life has turned out the way that it has - whatever that means - I mean... you know, to say that I would be glad would mean that I planned it. Do you know what I mean? I'm a tremendously lucky guy. I think that there are aspects to being a character actor where you actually get offered more interesting roles and you have a wider variety of things you get to do.

Question: You've attained considerable success.

Platt: I work... yeah, exactly. I work enough, you know. I've never been terribly interested in being famous, it's not something that I've ever aspired to, and that's actually one of the aspects of the business that is more difficult to negotiate and can be very confusing because in a way if you don't achieve a certain degree of notoriety you're not doing your job, but what I'm much more interested in is ,doing good work. I do care about my reputation.

Question: Yeah, and people recognise you as somebody who's well known, but at the same time they recognise you as somebody who they can rely on as being a good actor who will be usually in a high-quality project. You don't seem to do a lot of shit really.

Platt: I'm lucky that way. I mean knock on something [knocking on wood sound] - please do it for me...

Question: Like this? [Knocking on a nearby table]

Platt: There you go - just touch it.

Question: There you go.

Platt: There you go. I mean it's relative, always. It's relative, and you always take the best job that's out there when you need a job. But I do think I've been very lucky.

Question: You don't have any particular aspirations beyond what you're currently doing?

Platt: Mmm... maybe producing and my interest in producing has led me to think that maybe I might need to direct one of the things that I've been developing for a while.

Question: How terrified are you at the prospect of directing, working with people like Hallström?

Platt: I wouldn't say terrified of it. I mean I'd probably be terrified if I felt I had to rely on it, but it's something I'm doing electively. I mean literally, if I had to direct these things it would be by default. I've always wanted to be a producer, it's been very attractive to me the idea of marrying sensibilities and developing stories, getting the right people to do this job, and the right person to do that job. That's very exciting for me, but I also realised... I've got something set up at the studio recently as a producer and, it's a story - it's an unpublished manuscript that has a remarkable movie at the centre of it - and I actually started to go down the list that the studio and I came up with for filmmakers and we offered to the first guy and, he would have had to piss a lot of people off to say yes but then we offered it to the second guy and I had this epiphany that producing is working your ass off on something for years and years then giving it away when the fun starts. And as soon as I realised I caught myself characterising that way I retracted the offer. Fortunately he didn't respond quickly, which allowed us to retract the offer and then I decided to...

Question: So does that mean you become a lot choosier as an actor so that you don't have to do as much stuff so you can prepare, to spend more time working on things that you want to do?

Platt: No, because I can't afford to say no to good stuff... there's so little good stuff out there now it's difficult to say no to it.

Question: So why this movie you've decided to direct?

Platt: Because I love the story. I just love the story. And again, I never set out to direct it but I'm somebody that I worked with once who was a very accomplished director and actor and writer sat me down - because we had a very satisfying working experience together - and he said, what do you want to do, you're a director and a producer and [I said] nah, nah, nah, no - love the producing, I'm not really interested in directing, and he said, well here's what's going to happen, he said you're gonna fall in love with a piece of material, you're going to try and find somebody to direct it and you're not going to be able to find someone who gets it the way you do. And he said this to me about ten years ago; it was very prophetic.

Question: So do you take on an Ice Harvest mainly for the opportunity to see how people like a Harold Ramis works?

Platt: No I take on Ice Harvest because it's a great role. I love the script and I just thought it was a great role. Like I say, it's like this - the script is like this sad, funny, desperate love song to the lost American man.

Question: And there aren't a lot of movies that explore that.

Platt: It's not remotely sentimental, you know what I mean. It's brutally honest, and I think often hilarious, but it's a sad movie, it's sad and truthful.

Question: But you're attracted to these kind of very sad and quiet, almost pathetic characters that have within them something...

Platt: Well as long as they're layered. As long as they're looking for something, you know, as long as they're...

Question: Are you concerned that the guy in Huff is going to go so far down that audiences will stop sympathising with him?

Platt: I think in telling that life, you have to keep people invested in him. That character - one of the best characterisations of alcoholism that I ever read, it was a low-level spiritual quest. I mean eventually he's going to have to start to get some sort of awareness of the kind of trouble that he's in - or... and I think if he doesn't people will stop caring.

Question: Is that going to happen in the second season ?

Platt: I think it might happen at the end of the second season. I think the situations he finds himself in as a result of his behaviour, he has no choice but to do some sort of reckoning.

Question: Do you relate to a character like Russell in Huff or do you know people like him?

Platt: I've known people like Russell. Not intimately because people like Russell don't ultimately let anybody into their life unless they behave the same way. But the thing is... I do find him very relatable because all he is, is a very extreme case of somebody who's scared of living, he's just terrified. He's running away from a lot of different stuff. I mean he's self-destructive. I think we all have those compulsions, the question is what do you do with them?

Question: Now you're re-teaming with Mr Cusack I believe...

Platt: You know, everybody... we already have finished doing a movie we shot it in the spring.

Question: And you actually get to play a much nicer guy in that movie - how would you define that character?

Platt: You know that was much more of a kind of cameo, I love the movie, I love the story, I love Johnny as a fun little role but it was more of a cameo, not anywhere near as developed as this role. But I played a somewhat eccentric science fiction writer who has recently widowed and becomes irrevocably kind of drawn to this very troubled foster kid, very traumatised foster kid, and all of his friends, including me, and I'm also his literary agent, tell him just don't... you know, don't do it. You know, grieve your wife, this is an impulsive thing and you have no idea the kind of trouble you're getting yourself into it. And of course he doesn't listen to me and he adopts this child. And it's kind of... it's like a... you know it's a love story metaphorically between the two of them. It's beautifully... I'm a sucker for an orphan story...

Question: Sounds very nice. You're pretty much done, I guess, with West Wing?

Platt: We do it on a case by case basis Nut, if it all ended the episode I did a couple of weeks ago, that aired a couple of weeks ago was the last one I was on that would be a very fitting end to Oliver Babish I think.

Question: What happens after you finish Huff? Are you taking a break?

Platt: I'm going to take a break. I'm going to take a little break, because we've been working for five months - and I did the movie with Johnny right before that.

Question: You have Casanova coming out.

Platt: I have Casanova coming out...

Question: What was the experience like in making that film?

Platt: Casanova? Oh, a delight. I mean truly.

Question: It's full costume...

Platt: It's full costume, it's full Venice man, every frame of that movie shot in Venice, Italy, I mean pretty much, which, if you know anything about movie making, is like an insane proposition. Making movies is about moving massive amounts of equipment and people around at very short notice, you know, and Venice, Italy is a city where no cars are allowed. It's, you know, gondolas and some ski boats. Motorised wheeled transportation is not allowed. So, I mean, a producer's nightmare but an actors dream, because we all hung in Venice for three months.

Question: But it's a Disney version of Casanova...

Platt: Well, you know... I don't know what you mean by Disney version. This movie is not made for kids. It's rated R and I don't think it quite deserves that R but it's definitely a PG-13. You know, Lasse Hallström made the movie, it's not like a dumb, sanitised version - not that everything Disney does is dumb and sanitised, but I think when you say... when people use Disney, you know, to describe something they usually mean that it's like, you know, for kids, and this is not for kids.

Question: Your character is not a broad comic character for you, right?

Platt: You know, it is and it isn't I mean... as an actor I never am thinking about broad, I'm thinking about truthful. And maybe for me somehow it always ends up broad, but those are maybe the parts that I'm offered and, yeah, let the chips fall where they may. But both Ice Harvest and Casanova are naturalistic filmmaking. If I'm playing larger than life characters well, you know, that's what happens but it's not commedia dell'arte.

Question: Well you get to fool around with Lena Olin, which is nothing - most men would be very envious of I would think.

Platt: And I got paid to do it. We all have our good days and our bad days, you know.

Question: And you don't get to do kind of romantic stuff all the time....

Platt: Well, no, no, no... funnily enough with Huff there's romantic in a very kind of dysfunctional way.

Question: Well it's dysfunctional romanticism...

Platt: Dysfunctional romanticism. But, I think that Russell tries to connect with people that's what he does. I mean actually in his weird little world when he's with a hooker he's... he doesn't know it, he's trying desperately to connect with that person. He's like paying somebody to create an environment where he can try and connect on his own, on his own terms, you know, and not have to worry about the consequences.

Question: So what do you do during your down time?

Platt: I just got out of a really exciting job which I'll tell you about next time I see you..

Question: Do you miss the theatre?

Platt: Yeah, I do. I've been looking for a play to do for a long time but when you have three little kids and you've got a mortgage.

From www.darkhorizons.com

Interview with Oliver Platt about "The Ice Harvest"

2007-08-05T22:25:00.000+01:00

Interview with Oliver Platt about "The Ice Harvest"

Question: Do you see any parallel in this guy (Pete) and the guy you play in Huff?

Oliver Platt: They’re very different actually. I think the guy I played in Huff is much more like Charlie’s character. He drinks so much that it doesn’t really affect him. He has to really put a lot of chemicals into his body to get to the state that this guy is in. Charlie’s really experienced. (Pete) is in a forced crisis. The forced gaiety of Christmas has made him really focus in on how bankrupt his life is. He doesn’t have anything important, and he obviously can’t hold his liqueur. He’s not a really an alcoholic. I think he may be on his way, but I don’t think he drinks like this a lot. I think he’s absolutely flipping out.

Q: But isn’t it funny that everybody is casting you as a semi-drunkard loser?

O.Platt.: You get cast for something people see in youâ€¦ I don’t know. I really don’t know. I can tell you this though; they’re certainly a lot of fun to play, especially when they’re layered. It’s very easy when you meet this guy to say, “Oh, there’s a happy drunk”, but we all know there’s no such thing really, but then we find out. I think the writing in this movie is so beautiful. The story reveals that he’s desperate.

Q: Playing a drunk person may sound simple, but there are so many little nuances, little details. Were those things that you brought yourself, and if so, how did you research?

O.Platt.: It’s a physical state more than anything else more than anything else. It’s a very relaxed state that I would get myself into. Very kind of loosey-goosey. It’s like I said, you figure it out, then you forget about it. I heard somewhere the way Meryl Streep works with an accent, she’ll totally immerse herself in it and she’ll be walking around her house and the set, until they say action, and then she completely forgets about it. And that’s why it’s just there. And it’s the same kind of thing, I think, when playing someone who’s that inebriated. Or I think in any kind of state. It’s gotta be something that informs what you’re doing, but you can’t be thinking about it when you’re doing it, or that’s what it’s going to look like.

Q: So, essentially you were drunk for a couple of months?

O.Platt.: When they said action, yeah.

Q: What’s your favorite drink?

O.Platt.: My favorite drink would have to be probably a tequila type of drink. Yeah, the members of the tequila family. Beer and tequila, I always thought were the excellent kind of rocket fuel kind of mixture, you got the upper and the downer in there somewhere, and in the middle wasâ€¦

Q: Are you a happy drunk?

O.Platt.: Yeah, I think I’m pretty friendly.

Q: I watched Casanova also, and I would call you the comic relief. You are the funny guy in most films. Is this something you are looking for?

O.Platt.: You know, I take the best job I’m offered if I’m not working. Those were both great jobs in my mind. Again, because they’re layered. Both (Pete) and Papprizzio are actually incredibly well defined roles for supporting roles in terms of having a great story, a beginning, middle and end, and a lot of depth to them. I was only too happy to take both of those roles.

Q: Both of the films are also comedies around you. How do you play the comic relief in a film that is already a comedy around you? Is there a degree where you can go too over-the-top in a film that is already a comedy?

O.Platt.: In a way you can over think that kind of stuff, and it’s just your job to play the role the way you see fit. Certainly in terms of Pete, the deal that I made with myself was the only way I could screw up would be to be afraid to make an absolute idiot of myself. People that have that degree of blood alcohol level, their sense of inhibition is completely gone. They’re certainly not thinking about how they’re coming off. What the safety net was for all of this was the script. In my mind it’s a beautifully written role, and so it’s all about playing the scenes. That level of drunkenness is like playing an accent. You plug it in and forget about it.

Q: Can you tell us what Harold Ramis adds to the equation.

O.Platt.: Well, you know what he adds to the equation, he add to the equationâ€¦ He’s simply there. It’s like, with one of the godfathers, the crazy uncles of American comedy sitting behind the camera you feel a lot more safe making a complete idiot of yourself in front of it. And you know this is also a man of great intelligence who’s going to keep his eye on the story, is going to tell you when you’re going too far, if you’re not going far enough. Harold sits behind the monitor and cackles a lot. That’s music to your ears. When he opens his mouth, you really pay close attention.

Director’s don’t really need to come talk to me, because I almost always go talk to them first. And I very much like to draw out what’s going on in their head, and tell them what’s going on in my head. I usually try and make a lot of contact with a director before we start shooting. I think you work really hard before you get to the set, so when you get to the set you can play and you can really surprise yourself.

Q: I assume you’re familiar with a lot of his movies?

O.Platt.: Yes.

Q: Have any favorite Ramis films?

O.Platt.: Definitely my favorite movie of his is Groundhog Day. Just because I think that it’s reallyâ€¦ He would hate this pretentious term, but I think it’s actually kind of an important movie. I think it’s the first great existential modern American comedy. It’s a deceptively sophisticated movie. It’s about a whole lot of stuff. I just loved it. I love all the other stuff too. Caddyshack. I love Stripes. I love all that stuff.

Q: Had you known John before, and what were your impressions of him?

O.Platt.: You know, I didn’t really know him before. He had called me once because I had worked with a director he wanted to work with. I had always admired him. I’d always admired his intelligence as an actor, his subtlety. His taste too. I love not only things that he chose to do, but I think he’s an incredibly tasteful. Like effortlessly tasteful actor, someone who really understands the concept of less is more. He understands the power of the camera. If you look at this movie and when you first are meeting him and he brings the money out of the bank and puts in the car, and he has this conversation with Billy Bob, and he says two or three words, but you know so much about that character right away. There’s more from what he doesn’t say.

Q: Any stories from working with him?

O.Platt.: You know, I’m terrible at the funny stories questions. I just am.

Q: How was Billy Bob?

O.Platt.: I didn’t work with him. I didn’t even meet him.

Q: Where was this shot? Was it shot entirely on location?

O.Platt.: Well, yeah, but in Chicago.

Q: Which was cold, I imagine?

O.Platt.: It was spring, late spring, which is still cold, but it was nothing like the real winter in Chicago or Wichita Falls.

Q: How was Venice? (Where Cassanova was filmed)

O.Platt.: Venice the weather was much more pleasant.

Q: What do you think the Midwestern setting does for this noir film that distinguishes it from other things we have seen in this genre?

O.Platt.: I think that this movie is in a certain catalogue a sad, love song to the precarious state of the American male. So I think you really need to set it in America. And by America, I think we’re talking about middle America. Not New York, because even though it’s where I live and I think it’s the greatest city in the world, it’s also an international city. And LA is the same thing. It needs to be more nondescript, utterly American city. I think that’s what their going for. Also, if noir is the point of departure for this film at least in terms of genre, these are not glamorous mobsters. I think that that’s one of the most genuine modern aspects of it. These are not glamorous, very powerful people.

Q: How do you think the people in Kansas will react to this?

O.Platt.: I hope that they’ll understand that this is a poetic kind of imagining of theâ€¦ every town has got strip clubs and losers. And I hear that Wichita is a beautiful place. Please quote me on that.

Kudos to Oliver Platt for spending some time with us and sharing his insights with our readers. The Ice Harvest is now playing everywhere.

From http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_6456.html

The West Wing Episodes with Oliver Platt

2007-08-05T22:06:00.000+01:00

The West Wing with Oliver Platt (9 Episodes)

Bad Moon Rising (Season 2, Episode 19)

http://rapidshare.com/files/3160253/the_west_wing.2x19.bad_moon_rising.ac3.dvdrip_xvid-fov.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3160672/the_west_wing.2x19.bad_moon_rising.ac3.dvdrip_xvid-fov.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3161182/the_west_wing.2x19.bad_moon_rising.ac3.dvdrip_xvid-fov.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3161453/the_west_wing.2x19.bad_moon_rising.ac3.dvdrip_xvid-fov.part4.rar.html

The Fall's Gonna Kill You (Season 2, Episode 20)

http://rapidshare.com/files/3161970/the_west_wing.2x20.the_falls_gonna_kill_you.ac3.dvdrip.xvid-fov.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3162439/the_west_wing.2x20.the_falls_gonna_kill_you.ac3.dvdrip.xvid-fov.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3162955/the_west_wing.2x20.the_falls_gonna_kill_you.ac3.dvdrip.xvid-fov.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3163229/the_west_wing.2x20.the_falls_gonna_kill_you.ac3.dvdrip.xvid-fov.part4.rar.html

18th and Potomac (Season 2, Episode 21)

http://rapidshare.com/files/3163682/the_west_wing.2x21.18th_and_potomac.ac3.dvdrip_xvid-fov.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3164098/the_west_wing.2x21.18th_and_potomac.ac3.dvdrip_xvid-fov.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3164459/the_west_wing.2x21.18th_and_potomac.ac3.dvdrip_xvid-fov.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3164685/the_west_wing.2x21.18th_and_potomac.ac3.dvdrip_xvid-fov.part4.rar.html

Manchester: Part 1 (Season 3, Episode 2)

http://rapidshare.com/files/309911/the_west_wing.3x02.manchester_part2.real.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/310444/the_west_wing.3x02.manchester_part2.real.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/310917/the_west_wing.3x02.manchester_part2.real.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/311234/the_west_wing.3x02.manchester_part2.real.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part4.rar.html

Manchester: Part 2 (Season 3, Episode 3)

http://rapidshare.com/files/311615/the_west_wing.3x03.ways_and_means.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/312085/the_west_wing.3x03.ways_and_means.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/312474/the_west_wing.3x03.ways_and_means.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/312680/the_west_wing.3x03.ways_and_means.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part4.rar.html

Ways and Means (Season 3, Episode 4)

http://rapidshare.com/files/313111/the_west_wing.3x04.on_the_day_before.repack.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/313547/the_west_wing.3x04.on_the_day_before.repack.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/313848/the_west_wing.3x04.on_the_day_before.repack.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/314064/the_west_wing.3x04.on_the_day_before.repack.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part4.rar.html

Gone Quiet (Season 3, Episode 7)

http://rapidshare.com/files/317925/the_west_wing.3x07.the_indians_in_the_lobby.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/318379/the_west_wing.3x07.the_indians_in_the_lobby.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/319048/the_west_wing.3x07.the_indians_in_the_lobby.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/319178/the_west_wing.3x07.the_indians_in_the_lobby.ac3.ws_dvdrip_xvid-fov.part4.rar.html

The Ticket (Season 7, Episode 1)

http://rapidshare.com/files/3686780/WW_701_The_Ticket.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3687222/WW_701_The_Ticket.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3687517/WW_701_The_Ticket.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3687780/WW_701_The_Ticket.part4.rar.html

Here Today (Season 7, Episode 5)

http://rapidshare.com/files/3691988/WW_705.Here_Today.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3692358/WW_705.Here_Today.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3692813/WW_705.Here_Today.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/3693028/WW_705.Here_Today.part4.rar.html

Huff, ALL EPISODES

2007-08-05T21:45:00.000+01:00

Huff, Tv Show with Oliver Platt

Psychiatrist Craig Huffstodt (Azaria) experiences his own midlife crisis.

More Info at IMDB

Huff, Season 1

Episode 1 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24435299/fufh1e01.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24441989/fufh1e01.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24501818/fufh1e01.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24502305/fufh1e01.part4.rar

Episode 2 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24503020/fufh1e02.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24503394/fufh1e02.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24503744/fufh1e02.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24503965/fufh1e02.part4.rar

Episode 3 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24504284/fufh1e03.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24504619/fufh1e03.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24504922/fufh1e03.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24505150/fufh1e03.part4.rar

Episode 4 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24505508/fufh1e04.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24505860/fufh1e04.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24506208/fufh1e04.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24506427/fufh1e04.part4.rar

Episode 5 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24506758/fufh1e05.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24507050/fufh1e05.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24507355/fufh1e05.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24507575/fufh1e05.part4.rar

Episode 6 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24507898/fufh1e06.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24508172/fufh1e06.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24508459/fufh1e06.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24508680/fufh1e06.part4.rar

Episode 7 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24509026/fufh1e07.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24509437/fufh1e07.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24509762/fufh1e07.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24509950/fufh1e07.part4.rar

Episode 8 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24510270/fufh1e08.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24510580/fufh1e08.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24510893/fufh1e08.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24511050/fufh1e08.part4.rar

Episode 9 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24511388/fufh1e09.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24511732/fufh1e09.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24512078/fufh1e09.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24512330/fufh1e09.part4.rar

Episode 10 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24512700/fufh1e10.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24513086/fufh1e10.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24513512/fufh1e10.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24513739/fufh1e10.part4.rar

Episode 11 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24514096/fufh1e11.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24514478/fufh1e11.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24514924/fufh1e11.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24515092/fufh1e11.part4.rar

Episode 12 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24515377/fufh1e12.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24515716/fufh1e12.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24516000/fufh1e12.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24516166/fufh1e12.part4.rar

Episode 13 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/24516440/fufh1e13.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24516724/fufh1e13.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24517037/fufh1e13.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24517268/fufh1e13.part4.rar

Password for all : huff4you

Huff, Season 2:

Episode 1 & 2 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25237284/fufh2e01_02.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25237678/fufh2e01_02.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25237997/fufh2e01_02.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25238341/fufh2e01_02.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25238725/fufh2e01_02.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25239058/fufh2e01_02.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25239444/fufh2e01_02.part7.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25239509/fufh2e01_02.part8.rar

Episode 3 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25239849/fufh2e03.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25240247/fufh2e03.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25240697/fufh2e03.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25241014/fufh2e03.part4.rar

Episode 4 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25241458/fufh2e04.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25241971/fufh2e04.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25242361/fufh2e04.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25242572/fufh2e04.part4.rar

Episode 5 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25242987/fufh2e05.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25243351/fufh2e05.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25243764/fufh2e05.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25244023/fufh2e05.part4.rar

Episode 6 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25244400/fufh2e06.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25244854/fufh2e06.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25245335/fufh2e06.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25245565/fufh2e06.part4.rar

Episode 7 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25245951/fufh2e07.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25246309/fufh2e07.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25246695/fufh2e07.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25246937/fufh2e07.part4.rar

Episode 8 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25247309/fufh2e08.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25247794/fufh2e08.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25248165/fufh2e08.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25248394/fufh2e08.part4.rar

Episode 9 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25249225/fufh2e09.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25249735/fufh2e09.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25250129/fufh2e09.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25250422/fufh2e09.part4.rar

Episode 10 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25250951/fufh2e10.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25251408/fufh2e10.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25251817/fufh2e10.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25252166/fufh2e10.part4.rar

Episode 11 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25252570/fufh2e11.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25253063/fufh2e11.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25253438/fufh2e11.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25253711/fufh2e11.part4.rar

Episode 12 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25254130/fufh2e12.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25254510/fufh2e12.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25254911/fufh2e12.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25255135/fufh2e12.part4.rar

Episode 13 :
http://rapidshare.com/files/25255523/fufh2e13.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25255872/fufh2e13.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25256325/fufh2e13.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/25256552/fufh2e13.part4.rar

Password for all: huffs2_4you

The Bronx Is Burning (Ep 1 - 4)

2007-08-05T21:24:00.000+01:00

The Bronx Is Burning, Tv Show with Oliver Platt

A look at the New York Yankees attempt to win the 1977 World Series. Based on Jonathan Mahler's book "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning.

More Info at IMDB

The.Bronx.Is.Burning.E01.HDTV.XviD-BamHD

http://rapidshare.com/files/43056913/da.bronx.is.burning.01.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/43058008/da.bronx.is.burning.01.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/43059167/da.bronx.is.burning.01.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/43055773/da.bronx.is.burning.01.part4.rar

the.bronx.is.burning.s01e02.hdtv.xvid-2hd.avi

http://d01.megashares.com/?d01=ebb0a2d

The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E02.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD.avi

http://d01.megashares.com/?d01=c853c3b

The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HDTV.XviD-SYS

http://rapidshare.com/files/45106326/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HDTV.XviD-SYS.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/45106510/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HDTV.XviD-SYS.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/45106509/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HDTV.XviD-SYS.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/45106540/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HDTV.XviD-SYS.part3.rar

The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD

http://rapidshare.com/files/44914550/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD.part8.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/44914913/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/44914928/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/44914912/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/44914946/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/44914991/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD.part7.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/44914979/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/44915025/The.Bronx.Is.Burning.S01E03.HR.HDTV.XviD-BamHD.part5.rar

The.Bronx.is.Burning.S01E04.HDTV.XviD-NoTV

http://rapidshare.com/files/46253800/The.Bronx.is.Burning.S01E04.HDTV.XviD-NoTV.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/46253886/The.Bronx.is.Burning.S01E04.HDTV.XviD-NoTV.part2.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/46253930/The.Bronx.is.Burning.S01E04.HDTV.XviD-NoTV.part3.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/46253960/The.Bronx.is.Burning.S01E04.HDTV.XviD-NoTV.part4.rar

Oliver Platt Biography

2007-08-05T21:19:00.000+01:00

Date of Birth
12 January 1960, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Birth Name
Oliver James Platt

Height
6' 3½" (1.92 m)

Mini Biography
The son of a career diplomat, he spent his childhood in Washington DC, Asia, and the middle east. Oliver graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Drama in 1983 from Tufts University. He then trained at Shakespeare & Co. with Kristine Linklater.

Spouse
Camilla Campbell (1993 - present) 3 children

Trivia
David E. Kelley originally wanted him to play the role of Bobby Donnell on the TV show "The Practice" (1997).

His father, Nicholas Platt, is an ex ambassador to Pakistan, Zambia, & the Phillipines.

Attended Tufts University.

Three children: Lily (b. 1995), George (b. 1997), and Claire (b. 1999).

Has an older brother, Adam Platt and a younger brother, Nicholas Platt Jr.

Avid Boston Red Sox fan.

A second-cousin, once-removed of Princess Diana, Princess of Wales.

Son of Nicholas Platt (b. 10.3.1936 in New York, NY), a career American diplomat, and wife Sheila Maynard. His mother, Sheila Maynard, is the daughter of maternal granddaughter of the Hon. Cynthia Burke-Roche (10.4.1884-8.12.1966, who married firstly Arthur Scott Burden (d. 6.1921) in 1906 and secondly Guy Fairfax Cary (d. 1950) in 1922). Cynthia was the sister of Edmund Maurice Burke-Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy in the Peerage of Ireland (of Irish and English extraction and son of an American Heiress), who was the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales. He is also the paternal grandson of American architect Geoffrey Platt (by whom he has remote Dutch American ancestry) and wife Helen Choate.

Was friends with "Huff" co-star Hank Azaria at Tufts University.

High school graduate from the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Colorado (near Aspen). The school's main curriculum is based on the "Outward Bound" education program, which teaches wilderness survival and expedition courses.

Personal Quotes
"The only thing I wanted to do when I was a young naive kid was to become a New York stage actor. I thought that would be nirvana. I think of myself as an actor. If other people want to pigeonhole me, if they want to think of me as a big deal or a medium deal or a small deal, well, that's up to them."

Where Are They Now
(June 2006) Making his Broadway debut in Conor McPherson's Shining City, at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway. His brilliant performance was honored with a Tony nomination for best actor.

Surface DVDRIP ALL EPISODES

2007-08-05T21:09:00.000+01:00

Surface, Tv Show with Bobby Coleman

What do naval officers in the South Antarctic Sea, a family in Wilmington, N.C., the oceanographic institute in Monterey, and fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico all have in common? They're all about to be the first to meet a new form of sea life -- it's beautiful, the kids may even want to play with it, and it likes to make the water warm. But what they don't know yet is that they are on the verge of a world disaster. "Surface" is a series full of continuously evolving twists that deliver across several long-term arcs.

From IMDB

Surface.S01.COMPLETE.DVDRip.XviD-TOPAZ

http://rapidshare.de/files/29401141/Surface.S01E01.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29401263/Surface.S01E01.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29401188/Surface.S01E01.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29401149/Surface.S01E01.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29401537/Surface.S01E02.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29402378/Surface.S01E02.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29401578/Surface.S01E02.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29401557/Surface.S01E02.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29402330/Surface.S01E03.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29402811/Surface.S01E03.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29402348/Surface.S01E03.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29402425/Surface.S01E03.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29403344/Surface.S01E04.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29407355/Surface.S01E04.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29403365/Surface.S01E04.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29402784/Surface.S01E04.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29408257/Surface.S01E05.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29407390/Surface.S01E05.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29407398/Surface.S01E05.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29410021/Surface.S01E05.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29411665/Surface.S01E06.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29411778/Surface.S01E06.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29411684/Surface.S01E06.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29411512/Surface.S01E06.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29412163/Surface.S01E07.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29412764/Surface.S01E07.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29412799/Surface.S01E07.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29412620/Surface.S01E07.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29412811/Surface.S01E08.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29413442/Surface.S01E08.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29413445/Surface.S01E08.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29413285/Surface.S01E08.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29413457/Surface.S01E09.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29413883/Surface.S01E09.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29414000/Surface.S01E09.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29413851/Surface.S01E09.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29414064/Surface.S01E10.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29415390/Surface.S01E10.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29415391/Surface.S01E10.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29415231/Surface.S01E10.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29415403/Surface.S01E11.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29416038/Surface.S01E11.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29415757/Surface.S01E11.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29415878/Surface.S01E11.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29416033/Surface.S01E12.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29416432/Surface.S01E12.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29416449/Surface.S01E12.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29416511/Surface.S01E12.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29418760/Surface.S01E13.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29418790/Surface.S01E13.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29418794/Surface.S01E13.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29416796/Surface.S01E13.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29418813/Surface.S01E14.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29419270/Surface.S01E14.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29419385/Surface.S01E14.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29419816/Surface.S01E14.part4.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29419346/Surface.S01E15.part1.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29419787/Surface.S01E15.part2.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29419834/Surface.S01E15.part3.rar http://rapidshare.de/files/29419803/Surface.S01E15.part4.rar

Bobby Coleman Biography

2007-08-05T20:37:00.000+01:00

Date of Birth
5 May 1997, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name
Robert Moorhouse Coleman III

Trivia
Son of Robert M. Coleman Jr. and Doris Berg Coleman.

Younger brother of Holliston Coleman.

Was named after his grand-father and father. He is the third generation to have the name carried on.

Auditioned for the part of Max in Where the Wild Things Are (2008).

From IMDB

Sixteen Candles (1984) with John Cusack

2007-08-05T18:43:00.000+01:00

Sixteen Candles (1984) with John Cusack

A young girl's "sweet sixteenth" birthday becomes anything but special as she suffers from every embarrassment possible.

Sixteen Candles DVD-R

http://rapidshare.com/files/24320218/SC.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24324926/SC.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24329346/SC.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24333823/SC.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24338281/SC.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24342530/SC.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24346809/SC.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24350897/SC.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24354985/SC.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24359087/SC.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24362863/SC.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24366369/SC.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24369838/SC.part13.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24373066/SC.part14.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24376449/SC.part15.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24379246/SC.part16.rar
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http://rapidshare.com/files/24384127/SC.part18.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24386511/SC.part19.rar
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http://rapidshare.com/files/24457019/SC.part32.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24462858/SC.part33.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24471503/SC.part34.rar
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http://rapidshare.com/files/24638468/SC.part41.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24649185/SC.part42.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24623132/SC.part43.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/24417866/SC.part44.rar

Password: VOS

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip ALL EPISODES

2007-08-05T18:02:00.000+01:00

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - ALL EPISODES -

Amanda Peet's latest show

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.01 - Pilot'

http://rapidshare.com/files/3255621/s60_101.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3256302/s60_101.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3256944/s60_101.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3257175/s60_101.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.02 - The Cold Open'

http://rapidshare.com/files/3210259/s60_102.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3212717/s60_102.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3231817/s60_102.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3239971/s60_102.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.03 - The Focus Group'

http://rapidshare.com/files/3257678/s60_103.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3258089/s60_103.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3258765/s60_103.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3259225/s60_103.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.04 - The West Coast Delay'

http://rapidshare.com/files/3259503/s60_104.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3259920/s60_104.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3261007/s60_104.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3299381/s60_104.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.05 - The Long Lead Story'

http://rapidshare.com/files/3300137/s60_105.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3300850/s60_105.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3301690/s60_105.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3302066/s60_105.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.06 - The Wrap Party'

http://rapidshare.com/files/3302388/s60_106.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3302872/s60_106.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3303402/s60_106.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3303705/s60_106.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.07 - Nevada Day Part 1'

http://rapidshare.com/files/3246293/s60_107.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3251541/s60_107.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3253241/s60_107.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3254080/s60_107.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.08 - Nevada Day Part 2'

http://rapidshare.com/files/3831644/studio60108.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3832710/studio60108.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3834953/studio60108.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/3839378/studio60108.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.09 - The Option Period'

http://rapidshare.com/files/4200437/studio60_109.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/4200762/studio60_109.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/4201099/studio60_109.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/4201204/studio60_109.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Stip - 1.10 - B-12'

http://rapidshare.com/files/6010577/studio60110.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6010720/studio60110.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6010822/studio60110.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6010455/studio60110.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.11 - The Christmas Show'

http://rapidshare.com/files/6535929/studio60111.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6536167/studio60111.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6536440/studio60111.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6535707/studio60111.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.12 - Monday'

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http://rapidshare.com/files/13297458/studio60112.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/13297652/studio60112.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/13297803/studio60112.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.13 - The Harriet Dinner Part 1'

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http://rapidshare.com/files/14362903/studio60113.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/14362996/studio60113.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/14363042/studio60113.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.14 - The Harriet Dinner Part 2'

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http://rapidshare.com/files/18950252/studio60114.part2.rar
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http://rapidshare.com/files/18948837/studio60114.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.15 - The Friday Night Slaughter'

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http://rapidshare.com/files/19336929/studio60115.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/19337340/studio60115.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/19337529/studio60115.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.16 - 4 A.M. Miracle'

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http://rapidshare.com/files/19499502/studio60116.part2.rar
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http://rapidshare.com/files/19499788/studio60116.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.17 - The Disaster Show'

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http://rapidshare.com/files/33336416/studio60117.part2.rar
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http://rapidshare.com/files/33341075/studio60117.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.18 - Breaking News'

http://rapidshare.com/files/34580816/studio60118.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/34582379/studio60118.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/34583677/studio60118.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/34584479/studio60118.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.19 - K & R Part 1'

http://rapidshare.com/files/35917123/studio60119.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/35919249/studio60119.part2.rar
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http://rapidshare.com/files/35923271/studio60119.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.20 - K & R Part 2'

http://rapidshare.com/files/37319633/studio60120.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/37320999/studio60120.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/37322392/studio60120.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/37323445/studio60120.part4.rar

'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip - 1.21 - K & R Part 3'

http://rapidshare.com/files/38684140/studio60121.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38697666/studio60121.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38709768/studio60121.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38710367/studio60121.part4.rar

Password: fronerm

or

Episode 1:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=KMYLJU47

Episode 2:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=Z631QI30

Episode 3:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=Y8XZIGDG

Episode 4:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=AO2UTKBP

Episode 5:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=ZE5S7D63

Episode 6:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=RP1T19YE

Episode 7:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P4POK4WT

Episode 8:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=WG7LL537

Episode 9:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=L8K3BZVI

Episode 10:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=EAK8L3BK

Episode 11:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=CQ42LJWO

Episode 12:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=5M7VAKM0

Episode 13:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=S7GKVTPP

Episode 14:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=PYSFZZ5X

Episode 15:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=4UPXAJIO

Episode 16:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=BTEG939T

Episode 17:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=EGBLBRLM

Episode 18:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8JDIA8B7

Episode 19:

http://www.megaupload.com/es/?d=EPCL9TBF

From:Pretty Sexy Stuff

Entourage episode with Amanda Peet

2007-08-05T17:56:00.000+01:00

"Entourage" S02E01 - The Boys Are Back in Town (With Amanda Peet)

With filming on Queens Boulevard completed, Vince, Eric, Turtle and Drama arrive back in LA, ready to pick up where they left off. Eric tries to fulfill his new duties as Vince's manager, while also trying to control the frustrations caused by his relationship with Kristen. He also has to deal with Ari, who lets him know that offers to Vince have started to dry up, and that Vince should take the starring role in James Cameron's "Aquaman." Turtle steps up into his new role as the house manager and Drama finds an unconventional way to get a new set of headshots. Written by HBO

http://rapidshare.com/files/39439918/Entourage.S02E01.DVDRip.XviD-TOPAZ.r00
http://rapidshare.com/files/39439471/Entourage.S02E01.DVDRip.XviD-TOPAZ.r01
http://rapidshare.com/files/39439892/Entourage.S02E01.DVDRip.XviD-TOPAZ.rar

or

http://www.badongo.com/vid/194204

Amanda Peet on Jay Leno Show

2007-08-05T17:32:00.000+01:00

http://rapidshare.com/files/47111343/AP-JL.rar

password: www.martianchild.net

John Cusack Interview About "Max"

2007-08-05T13:37:00.000+01:00

John Cusack Talks About "Max"

"Max" is the directorial debut of Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Menno Meyjes. The movie stars John Cusack as Max Rothman, a celebrated art gallery owner who befriends an aspiring young artist and fellow war veteran, Adolf Hitler (Noah Taylor). Despite Max's assistance and encouragement, Hitler is unsuccessful as an artist and turns all of his energy to politics.

Casting the crucial role of Max had producer Andras Hamori and writer/director Meyjes stumped. No one actor seemed to jump to the head of the line until one evening the two spotted a photo of John Cusack on the cover of a magazine. Hamori recalls, "Just as if we were in a bad movie, we both paused, gasped, turned to each other and said, 'This is Max Rothman.'" Fortune further smiled on the two when Cusack reacted positively to the script. "By some total miracle, when John read the script he become intrigued by the script and fought for it. He became totally obsessed with 'Max,'" says Hamori.

JOHN CUSACK ('Max')

"Max" is a very intense movie. What was the toughest part of making this film?
I think just trying to pull it off. I think it would be like doing a classic kind of epic play. It was a pretty intense high-wire act, just trying to do this film. We were trying to portray the birth of modernism and the examination of the most kind of profound evil [while] putting a human face on it. [The story is] a confusion of art and politics and part history and social history. It's a very ambitious piece. It wasn't like you walked in and said, “Ah, this is a slam-dunk. We've got this.”

How did you get involved with "Max?"
The [script] came in and I grabbed on to it. Menno [Meyjes] had, for some reason, needed a one-armed German-Jewish art dealer and he just thought of me. He saw me more as a German for this. Where I grew up the Irish, the Jews, and the Italians all hung out together. So I grew up with screaming Irish, Jewish, and Italians debating politics.

How hard was it to concentrate on the acting with your arm physically tied behind you?
The hard part was the geometry of it was off-kilter a little bit. We didn't have a lot of money so there was a constant sense of paranoia, “Did you see the arm? Did you see the arm?” It was real hard.

How did you research your role?
I did a lot of research on German Jews and I was lucky enough to have found this book by a Yale professor who did this real exhaustive research on it. And like every one else, there were different levels of connection to the Judaism. Many of them just saw themselves as Germans who just happened to be Jewish, the same way that I'm American but happen to be Catholic. I was raised Catholic but it's not like I walk around each day thinking, “I'm a Catholic. I'm a Catholic.” They were just Germans and they were patriots.

Was special care taken to not oversimplify a character like Hitler or oversimplify his motivations?
I think we did the opposite. I think a lot of films have oversimplified this kind of power-hungry demonic monster, which is certainly true. This kind of talks about some of the other things. The nature of the film addresses the question. The nature of the film is to examine it and not oversimplify his motives.

What do you think are the culminating factors that led him to become this great exterminator?
Repressed emotions, the inability to express it, and cowardice. The film kind of postulates his inability to honestly express himself through his art caused him to then give up art and try the field of politics. Those two things together, that was his evil genius. [It] had to do with that fusion of art and politics and him being very ahead of the curve - to a horrible end.

There's no doubt that he was a sophisticated black genius. He saw the power of modern art. He hated the content of it because it was humanizing the anti-war movement but he found the power from it. He took the colors, the notions of it, into propaganda - this vapid performance art piece. He had the actual power. If you cross this confusion of art and power and his descent into the black arts, the occult, that explains a lot. Seeing it through the prism of art.

His fascism comes from anger and sexual frustration and class denied. You see it today and think, “How could some of these hardcore Islamic fundamentalists do that?” Well, they're living in poverty and they are living in some situation that feels hopeless. They can either feel hopeless and sexually frustrated living in a room full of 20 people - they don't have any upwardly mobile things to strive for - they can either be losers or they can be God's warriors. What are they going to choose? There are also the social and the class and the economic issues that we add in to it. Ultimately, I think he made a choice to turn. He made a great criminal choice not to take responsibility for own his life. He took the path of less resistance, which is to hate. That's the easiest thing to do. He wouldn't pay the price to be a great artist; the toll was too high. These are complex answers to the question about oversimplifying. I think the film is the opposite - simplistic.

Have you thought about once the film comes out there might be potential backlash? The subject matter could be misconstrued and people might think you're trying to glorify Hitler and make him an every-day kind of guy. Are you prepared to defend the film?
I think it's a deeply moral film, a responsible film, and if you say, "How dare you portray Hitler with a human sense of desire," I'd have to say, “What planet are you living on?” If you want to have that argument intellectually, sit down and have it, bring it on.

He's a complete coward and a thief. It's very comforting to think of evil as a guy who came down in pink vapors and arrived on Earth and then did supernatural evil things and then left in a cloud of dust and fire. But that's not the way it was, sorry to say.

That's what makes this film so great. It actually shows a disturbed man coming back from war.
It shows how his humanity gets poisoned and he makes choices, right? The fact that the man is human doesn't make the man less culpable, it makes him more culpable. If he's not human, then he's beyond human reckoning. You don't have to worry about it happening because he wasn't human, he's not one of us. You don't have to think about any of the factors that lead to his rise or any of that stuff, right? He wasn't human and we're all clean. If he was human, then we've got to deal with it.

The only people who've attacked the film are the people who haven't seen it. It hasn't been attacked here. This film was castigated by people who didn't have the sense to come see what we made. I sort of get off on all that, too. I like to debate. I feel that time will be really good to this film.

What do you think of Noah Taylor's portrayal of Hitler?
I think he's brilliant. I don't know many actors who'd have the guts to do it. I think he was kind of calculating the clinical [part] of how he was going to be able to do it and he just sort of let himself be vacant in a very interesting way. Spiritually vacant, you know? He's a great, great actor.

Do you think about awards when you do a movie like "Max?"
No. Theoretically you hope that it's respected and liked but I don't know if awards help it that much, in terms of the life of the movie or how respected it is. A lot of the awards now have to do with people buying them. It depends if the companies decide to buy them. Harvey Weinstein and DreamWorks paid $50 million to buy Academy Awards. It's not objective; it's not like the Nobel Prize. It's all kind of fad and where the money flows.

You've excelled at so many romantic comedies. What is your idea of romance?
I don't know. My idea of romance? It would be personal with whoever you're romantic with.

Would you ever use one of your movie character stunts to sweep someone off of their feet?
I probably would be capable of just about anything. Nothing - no stunt - would be too low.

From movies.about.com

John Cusack Interview about "Must Love Dogs"

2007-08-05T13:20:00.000+01:00

John Cusack Returns to Romantic Comedies with "Must Love Dogs"

Cusack on "Must Love Dogs," Choosing Roles, and Working with Diane Lane

John Cusack and "Must Love Dogs:" John Cusack has plenty of dramatic roles on his resume, including recent starring turns in "Runaway Jury" and the indie film, "Max." But to me he'll forever be known as the guy who gave us the best teen angst romantic comedies of the 1980s. "Better Off Dead," "The Sure Thing," "One Crazy Summer" and the best of the bunch - "Say Anything" - helped make John Cusack into one of the most recognizable actors of his generation.
Cusack adds another romantic comedy notch on his belt with "Must Love Dogs," an adult relationship comedy about Internet dating and finding the perfect partner.

John Cusack on His Decision to Do Another Romantic Comedy: “I was going to go off and do a film in Europe, and the way things happen in the film business so many times, it fell apart at the last minute.

I thought, ‘I’m going to be sitting home right now not working.’ I hadn’t had any of my own projects ready, and I then I had a call saying, ‘You’ve got to meet this guy Gary Goldberg. He really wants to talk to you.’
So I went and met him for lunch and he seemed like a great guy, and I read the script. So it just sort of came out of the blue, and they asked me to do it. But I thought the combination of Gary and Diane [Lane] and Chris Plummer – that’s a pretty great pedigree, so I was kind of happy to be asked to join such a great group.”

On Typecasting as the Go-To Romantic Comedy Guy: “I don’t think of it that way, as type casting. I think if I get offered to do a movie about relationships I’m going to download as much of what I think about them into a part, or what seems funny to me about it, or what’s on my mind about it. So, if I get offered those parts and think they can be good…

It seems to me that one thing people do over and over again is try to figure out how to get married, stay married, fall in love, how to rekindle all this stuff. It seems to me to be a pretty eternal theme so I don’t know if you can get typecast from making movies about men relating to women. It seems to be what is going on on the planet a lot.”

John Cusack on the Internet: “I’m not really that much of an Internet person. I use it for final drafts for screenplays, and then e-mail. Then I call my assistant all the time and say, ‘My computer’s down. Can you have someone come fix it?’ And then she comes by and they turn it on, and that was the problem with the computer. So I’m not really that good with it. But I do the Google thing where you can Google your name and then find out what the press is saying about you. I’ve done that a few times just to see if they’re saying anything. What I did, I did check out some of those online dating things and some of those chat rooms, and I was amazed at how intense that is.“

It is pretty bizarre, but the whole instant messaging – text thing, it can replace the phone, but you can keep things going it seems like. You can stay in touch with people, even if they are all over the world, so in a sense it’s great because you can just write anybody a note any time and it seems fantastic. But there are more and more of those ads for these things, ‘We’re going to find your perfect mate. You put all your information with us.’ There’s more and more of those things on TV, isn’t there? Late at night when we’re sitting there not trying to sleep. They’re all over.”

If He Was Forced to Go Online to Get a Date… “I don’t want to get a date online. I’m trying to think of what I would put online. I’d probably put something just really funny and absurd, and then if somebody approached me with something that was equally funny, then I would know I would like them. I would try to be funny, and then if someone was funny back I would think, ‘Oh, there must be something interesting there.’ What would I put? ‘Nice person, sometimes brooding, sometimes nice.’”

John Cusack on How to Make a Good Romantic Comedy: “What I think was so great about what Gary was, and I really didn’t know Gary, I just knew that he was this kind of this impresario of television - he’s like James L. Brooks or one of those guys who made those great comedies and character-based comedies that will work forever in television. He really loves character and I think from working in television, the process keeps evolving with Gary. He’s always writing it, and re-writing it, and re-tweaking it, and throwing something out. He just loves characters.

I think he found the book and loved the idea of doing this story with Diane, but then he just kinds of falls in love with the characters and then just keeps trying to make their world more interesting, and more interesting, and he’s not precious at all. He’s really a terrific. I heard great things about him, but he really exceeded all my expectations that way. He just stands there and he goes, ‘I love this guy. I love this girl,’ and ‘How do we make this better?’ and ‘What do we do here?’"

"I think if you just approach it from being interested in the characters and not just interested in the devices or the plot twists… Obviously in a romantic comedy you know that these people are going to meet, then they’re going to get separated, and then they are going to come back together. So it’s really just fleshing out the lives in-between. Any genre can be done well or bad I guess.”

On Choosing Roles – Is it a “One for Them, One for Me” Type of Decision?: “Yeah, but this one, as I said, came out of the blue and I really didn’t know what to expect. But I knew doing something with Christopher Plummer and Diane Lane and Stockard Channing, that’s not really a ‘one for them’ kind of a movie.
I didn’t know what the experience was going to be because it came very fast, out of the blue, but it was really one of the most lovely times I’ve had making a film. The group of people they got together were so nice, and Gary set such an amazing tone. He made it all seem sort of effortless, but he really just loved the characters so it was kind of a joy to come in.
It was very light. It’s a very fun movie, and it’s supposed to be a really fun movie. It didn’t feel like I was going off to do some Diet Pepsi action movie and make some corporate mark. It really just felt like a movie about these characters, and everybody approached it with a lot of love, so it was really a wonderful time to go work on a film. I was just very, very lucky to be wanted. Sometimes they just come to you, but this was just, I think, luck. I was just very lucky to get asked to work with these people.

Then sometimes you take it because you think, ‘If I do this kind of movie maybe it will help me get the movies that I want to get made, made, or help my profile out.’ It’s kind of a dance you do with the business. This had the combination of being a really fun movie and one I think that will be really commercial, so that’s just dumb luck to get ask to be in this.”

Relating to His Character and First Dates: “Some of them you know that stuff, where you actually start talking over dinner and then you realize that you’ve been talking a long time and the person is looking at you with the face of utter incomprehension, and not laughing at your jokes. Then you realize that you still haven’t ordered yet. That’s not so pleasant. But it’s kind of awkward. It’s hard to fathom someone and everybody’s coming at it with – it’s all ripe with possibilities. Is this going to be something great or not? And sometimes the pressure of that is kind of insanely comic.”

John Cusack on the Script and Inserting His Own Style Into the Character: “When I talked to Gary, when I met him I said… Because it was a little bit of a small part, he goes, ‘Well, if we’re going to have you do it, we’ve got to make something of it.’ And then that’s his thing. His process is to just get an actor and then write and re-write and work on the set. He’s always bringing new pages on the set so I came with some ideas and then he wanted to go with them. That was kind of how he wanted to do it, and I like to work that way too. And I have ideas.”

On Working With Diane Lane: “I’d always sort of wanted to work with her so, as I said, I was very lucky to get asked to do this because I’d been following her. I probably had a crush on her since ‘A Little Romance’ when she was 13 and I was about the same age probably.”

On Improvisation in “Must Love Dogs:” “I think Gary would have it on paper and he’d be rewriting it a lot, and you come up with an idea. I would do it that way and then I’d say, ‘Well, let’s just do one where I say anything that comes out of my mouth,’ and we’d do that. Sometimes Gary would laugh and sometimes he would sort of look at me like I was insane and I don’t know how much of that he used.

We improvised a bit but there was a lot on the page and the actors kind of just went with it and went with their impulses. It’s kind of nice to do that in comedy because it’s really all about the character. It’s not like it’s a heist movie where they have to be at this moment and do this and crack the safe and get the number. Character drives plot so it’s all about these characters and what’s going on with them and what they’re feeling, so there is room for improvisation in a film like that. Gary likes to work that way. I think he’s worked with actors before who like to riff.”

John Cusack on His Upcoming Projects: “I’m shooting this film called ‘The Martian Child’ with myself and my sister Joan. Amanda Peet’s in it and Oliver Platt and Sophie Okonedo. I’m making it with the director who I made ‘Max’ with. It’s about a guy who adopts a kid with kind of special needs. It’s a really nice story.”

Cusack’s also shooting a film in Bulgaria. “I’m making a film with Morgan Freeman called ‘The Contract’ with Bruce Beresford. Kind of a hostage drama kind of thing. It sort of switches back and forth but Morgan plays a bad guy, which is pretty interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that so I said, ‘Alright, I’m going to Bulgaria.’ He’s one of those actors, kind of like Christopher Plummer or Stockard Channing or Diane [Lane] or any of those people where if somebody said, ‘Come on in and they’re going to read the phone book from L to M,’ I would just listen because they are so interesting to watch - those actors.”

On His Edgar Casey Project and His Interest in the Paranormal: “I have an interest in that sort of thing. I’m very interested in that and then my father and I started working on a screenplay before he passed away, so I have a connection with my father, too. I just think the world is fascinating. I’m interested in what you can learn from it.“

John Cusack’s Take on the Paranormal: “…I’ve had experiences where I’m pretty sure there’s more going on than [what’s on the surface]. Instincts and intuition things and things where people have known stuff they’re not supposed to know. You wake up and go, ‘Something’s up with somebody,’ and it’s happened. Just little connections to people where you’re hardwired in ways you don’t really know about or aren’t conscious of.

I’ve just studied that stuff for a while and I think he’s a fascinating creature. Houdini and all these people tried to debunk him and nobody could, so he definitely had a connection to this other world, whatever that is, that is kind of irrefutable. He was studied and there’s 40 books written about him and there’s a whole institute in Virginia Beach. He’s a fascinating figure. Spencer Tracy wanted to do a movie about him for a long time. They’ve been trying to do a movie about him for a while so I’m going to do that one.”

From movies.about.com

John Cusack on Jay Leno Show

2007-08-05T12:19:00.000+01:00

Jay.Leno.2007.06.21.John.Cusack.HDTV.XViD-STFU

http://rapidshare.com/files/38818733/stfu-leno.2007.06.21.hdtv.xvid.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38822717/stfu-leno.2007.06.21.hdtv.xvid.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38827022/stfu-leno.2007.06.21.hdtv.xvid.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/38830951/stfu-leno.2007.06.21.hdtv.xvid.part4.rar

Amanda Peet Interview on the set of "The Whole Ten Yards"

2007-08-05T12:12:00.000+01:00

Amanda Peet Discusses Life on the Set of "The Whole Ten Yards"

From the Premiere of "The Whole Ten Yards"

Did Amanda Peet have fun working on "The Whole Ten Yards?" Judging by the smile on her face at the movie's World Premiere, she had a blast. In this sequel to "The Whole Nine Yards," Peet's married to ex-mobster Jimmy 'The Tulip' (Bruce Willis) and is still waiting for her first real kill as a hired gun.

INTERVIEW WITH AMANDA PEET ('Jill'):

How was the atmosphere on set?
It was so boring. They’re so serious. It was a difficult time (laughing).

How tough was it to get back into that character?
It was very easy. I just looked at Matthew [Perry] and looked at Bruce, and we just got right back into it.

Was there any particular scene that was tough to make it through because you were laughing?
Whenever I was with Kevin Pollak, I had to leave the room. So whenever you see me talking to Kevin Pollak in the movie, I’m not really talking. I’m down the hall trying to be quiet, and he’s doing his lines with somebody else.

Could you understand him?
With that accent? What is he doing? I don’t know. Sometimes I could but when I couldn’t, it was still really funny.

Did the script pretty much just go flying out the window?
(Laughing) A little bit, yeah.

There was a lot of adlibbing?
Oh yeah.

Is it tough to keep up with Matthew Perry when it comes to adlibbing?
I don’t like to think of it as tough, but yeah. I would go to his trailer in the morning and knock on the door and say, “How do I deliver this line? How do I make it funny?” He would say, “Okay, honey, this is how you deliver that line.”

What can you tell me about your upcoming film, “Melinda and Melinda?”
Melinda is Radha Mitchell – the beautiful Radha Mitchell. I play Will Ferrell’s wife in the movie. He has a crush on Radha and we don’t have a very good marriage.

Will Woody Allen play a role in “Melinda and Melinda?”
He’s directing it but I don’t think he’s in it. I only got my own pages so you have to understand that I’m a little bit in the dark, not dissimilar to the way I was on “The Whole Ten Yards.”

And what’s “A Lot Like Love?”
Ashton Kutcher and I are playing friends, kind of like “When Harry Met Sally.” It’s a big love story that goes over [a period of] years. We hate each other in the beginning.

You play Bruce Willis' wife in "The Whole Ten Yards" and Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend in "A Lot Like Love." Do you feel like Demi Moore’s onscreen doppelganger?
I would love – and you can quote me – I would love to be Demi Moore’s doppelganger. I can only hope to be that.

From movies.about.com

Martian Child The Book

2007-08-05T11:54:00.000+01:00

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Martian Child:

“[A] very personal account of a middle-aged gay man’s adoption of a high-risk eight-year-old boy... Charming and funny, the adopted single dad wins our sympathy.”—Kirkus Reviews

”The heart-searing moments are many but never overwritten, thanks to Gerrold's bright, efficient exposition.” —Booklist

“Gerrold, a Nebula and Hugo Award winner...deals with being a single, gay parent of a child who insists he is a Martian, a common defense mechanism used by abused and neglected children. The account moves quickly through months of adjustment, doubt, and finally acceptance of a situation that often has the potential for disaster.” —Publishers Weekly

“Sometimes parenting can be an encounter with aliens. The Martian Child is based on the author's true story of parenting as a single gay man. In the course of his undertaking, he becomes acquainted with the habits and behavior of an even more exotic creature, the Earth boy. It's a quick read, and a humanizing one.” —Bay Area Reporter

Book Description

Basis for the major motion picture from New Line Cinema —starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, and Joan Cusack—in theaters October 2007

When David Gerrold decided he wanted to adopt a son, he thought he had prepared himself for fatherhood. But eight-year-old Dennis turned out to be more than he expected—a lot more. Dennis suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome, the son of a substance abuser and alcoholic who abandoned him in a seedy motel at the age of one-and-a-half. His father died of an overdose. Seized by the state, Dennis was shuffled between eight different foster homes in less than eight years. He was abused and beaten severely in at least tow of his placements. Dennis was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and put on Ritalin and then Disipramine. He was prone to violent emotional outbursts. His case history identified him as “hard to place” —a euphemism for “unadoptable.” But for David Gerrold it was love at first sight…

About the Author

David Gerrold is the Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author of dozens of books for both adults and young adults. He began his career as the precocious author of the teleplay “The Trouble with Tribbles,” broadcast on the original Star Trek series and voted the series’s most popular episode of all time.

David lives with his son in Northridge, California. And while he admits he no longer believes his son truly is a Martian, in exasperating father-son moments—of which there are many—David believes he still acts like one.

From: amazon.com

David Gerrold Biography and Work

2007-08-05T11:35:00.000+01:00

Biography

David Gerrold, born Jerrold David Friedman (January 24, 1944), in Chicago, Illinois, is an award-winning science fiction author who started his career in 1966 as a college student by submitting an unsolicited story outline for the television series Star Trek. He was invited to submit several premises, and the one chosen by Star Trek was filmed as "The Trouble with Tribbles", which has been one of the most enduringly popular episodes of the series.

Early works

After his early success with "The Trouble with Tribbles" Gerrold continued writing television scripts (mostly for science fiction series such as Land of the Lost, Babylon 5, Sliders, and The Twilight Zone) and science fiction novels, of which the most well-known are The Man Who Folded Himself (1973), about a man whose experiments with a time machine distorts the details of his life and reality, and When HARLIE Was One (1972), the story of an artificial intelligence's relationship with his creators. When HARLIE Was One was nominated for best novel for both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. A revised edition, entitled When HARLIE Was One, Release 2.0, was published in 1988, incorporating new insights and reflecting new developments in computer science.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Within days of seeing the Star Trek series premiere "The Man Trap" on 8 September 1966, Gerrold wrote a sixty-page outline for a two-part episode called "Tomorrow Was Yesterday", about the Enterprise discovering a generation ship launched from Earth centuries earlier. Although Star Trek producer Gene L. Coon rejected the outline, he realized Gerrold was talented and expressed interest in him submitting some story premises. Bearing preliminary titles and, in some cases, preliminary character names, Gerrold submitted five premises.

Two that he had little recollection of involved a spaceship-destroying machine, eerily similar to Norman Spinrad's "The Doomsday Machine", and a situation in which Kirk had to play a chess game with an advanced intelligence using his crew as chess pieces. There has been some speculation by Trek and comic book historians that the chess game was inspired by an early issue of Justice League of America, published by DC Comics. The issue in question had the evil alien conqueror, Despero, playing a game of chess with one of the Leaguers, with the pieces depicting the other heroes. Gerrold has denied this, but the speculation persists.

A third premise, "Bandi", involved a small being running about the Enterprise as someone's pet, and which empathically sways the crew's feelings and emotions to comfort Bandi, and if necessary at someone else's expense. Gerrold noted, in retrospect, that it would not be like the Enterprise crew to have such attitudes against Kirk as Bandi induced, and that he might instead set the episode on another ship where laxity has been reported.

A fourth premise, "The Protracted Man", applied science fiction to use an effect seen in West Side Story, when Maria twirls in her dancing dress and the colours separate. Gerrold's story involved a man transported from a shuttlecraft trying out a new space warp technology. The man is no longer unified, separating into three visible forms when he moves, separated by a fraction of a second. As efforts are undertaken to correct the condition and move the Enterprise to where corrective action can be taken, the protraction worsens.

The fifth premise, "The Fuzzies," was also initially rejected by Coon, but a while later he changed his mind and called Gerrold's agent to accept it. Gerrold then expanded the story to a full television story outline entitled "A Fuzzy Thing Happened To Me. . .," and it eventually became "The Trouble With Tribbles." The name "Fuzzy" was changed because H. Beam Piper had written novels about a fictional alien species of the same name (see Little Fuzzy). The script went through numerous rewrites, including, at the insistence of Gerrold's agent, being re-set in a stock frontier town instead of an "expensive" space station. Gerrold later wrote a book, The Trouble With Tribbles, telling the whole story about producing the episode and his earlier premises.

This was one of two books Gerrold wrote about Star Trek in the early 1970s after the original series had been canceled. His other was a comprehensive analysis of the series entitled The World of Star Trek. He discussed them at various conventions where he was a frequent speaker and guest. In The World of Star Trek, he criticized some of the elements of the show, particularly Kirk's habit of placing himself in dangerous situations and leading landing parties from the ship himself, and suggested some things he would change about the show if it were to air again. Among these were a Klingon as a member of the crew, a counselor to look after crewmembers' inner lives, and crewmembers allowed to bring their families and children along.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

All of the above noted changes were incorporated into Star Trek: The Next Generation when it debuted in 1987. In particular, Gerrold can be credited for reshaping the position of "first officer" as the ship's executive officer and commander of "away teams" (to overcome the unrealism of the ship's captain routinely beaming into dangerous situations). He parted company with the producers at the beginning of the first season, after a dispute before the Writers' Guild in which the Guild required that Gerrold be paid additional wages for the work he did helping to create the series, because he had largely written the show's bible rather than the ailing Gene Roddenberry. He was awarded cash but chose to forego additional credit.

Roddenberry's partisans struck back after his death in 1991, with a lengthy passage in David Alexander's authorized biography, Star Trek Creator, suggesting that Gerrold had plagiarized the Martian-flatcat chapter in Robert A. Heinlein's novel The Rolling Stones for "The Trouble With Tribbles," (something that Gerrold had categorically denied in his book on the episode, saying he thought he was writing the "rabbits in Australia" story) and that only Heinlein's age and old-school graciousness had prevented him from bringing a lawsuit.

In fact, Heinlein and Gerrold became friends in the late 1970s, when Gerrold was an active blood donor in support of Heinlein's blood drives. They remained friends for many years, and Gerrold even dedicated one of his books (A Matter For Men) to Robert and Virginia Heinlein. After Heinlein's death, Ginny Heinlein gave up her California home, and Gerrold adopted Heinlein's cat, Pixel.

Another point of contention between Gerrold and the Star Trek: The Next Generation executive leadership was Gerrold's writing of an unproduced script that would have had an allegory to the AIDS pandemic along with some brief scenes with two Star Fleet crewmembers that would have subtly been identified as being a gay couple. Gerrold wrote this script in response to being with Roddenberry at a convention in 1987 where he had promised that the upcoming Next Generation series would deal with the issue of sexual orientation in the egalitarian future. The script was rewritten to remove the gay couple, and even then certain people seemed to be worried about airing an episode that made a plea for compassion for those people infected with AIDS. For more information see LGBT characters in the Star Trek universe.

Post-Trek involvement

Gerrold wrote a script for Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled Blood and Fire, which included an AIDS metaphor and an incidentally gay couple in the ship's crew. The script was purchased by the TNG producers, but eventually shelved. Gerrold eventually reworked it as a novel, Blood and Fire, the third book in the Star Wolf series (see below). He later reworked the script again, placing the story in the time frame of Star Trek: The Original Series in order for it to be filmed as an episode of Star Trek: New Voyages.

Gerrold had always wanted to appear onscreen in an episode of Star Trek, particularly "The Trouble with Tribbles." The character of Ensign Freeman, who appears in the famous bar scene with the Klingons, was originally intended by Gerrold to be a walk-on part for himself, although another actor eventually took the role. While Gerrold appeared as a crewman extra with other Trek fandom notables in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, he did not get the chance to appear in a Trek series until Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, when he appeared as a security guard in "Trials and Tribble-ations", set during the very same time frame as his original episode.

Gerrold also published a novelization of the Star Trek: The Next Generation series premiere "Encounter at Farpoint" (1987) and an original Star Trek novel entitled The Galactic Whirlpool (1980) based on the story outline "Tomorrow Was Yesterday". (It has been suggested that the "Specs" character in that novel was Gerrold himself.) In 2006, for the 40th anniversary of Star Trek, he co-edited with Robert J. Sawyer an essay collection entitled Boarding the Enterprise.

The War Against the Chtorr

Gerrold is the author of the War Against the Chtorr series of books, about an invasion of Earth by mysterious aliens: A Matter for Men (1983), A Day for Damnation (1985), A Rage for Revenge (1989), and A Season for Slaughter (1993). As of 2006, he was still writing the fifth book (A Method For Madness), and has contracted to write a sixth (A Time For Treason). The ending chapters of the series have been set aside for the seventh and final book, which will be A Case For Courage. His age, combined with his health issues (from www.gerrold.com) leads many to believe that this series will never actually be completed.

In an original twist, the invasion is an ecological one. Instead of armies, the unseen aggressors gradually unleash plants and animals from their older, more evolved planet. These outcompete and displace their terrestrial counterparts and Earth becomes more and more Chtorr-like as the "war" progresses.

Star Wolf

Gerrold is also the author of the Star Wolf series of books, centered on the star ship Star Wolf and its crew: Voyage of the Star Wolf (1990), The Middle of Nowhere (1995), Blood and Fire (2004), and Yesterday's Children (1972) which is actually an earlier novel that features the same main character republished as Starhunt and tacked into the main continuity as a prequel. The books were based on a concept Gerrold had originally planned for a TV series. The Star Wolf series reflects Gerrold's contention that, due to the distances involved, space battles would be more like submarine hunts than the dogfights usually portrayed—in most cases the ships doing battle wouldn't even be able to see each other.

Other works

He also wrote the non-fiction book Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, published in 2001.

The Martian Child is a semi-autobiographical novel, based on the author's own experiences as a single adoptive parent, with most of the key moments drawn from actual events. The novel won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and a movie version is currently in production for release sometime in 2007.

In 2000, his long-time admiration of the works of Robert A. Heinlein led him to create a new series, called The Dingilliad. It follows a resourceful teenager and his family as they try to begin a new life. Although not necessarily canon, there are hints that it ties into the War Against the Chtorr universe, with everything from the plagues to the rumored appearance of a giant purple worm. The trilogy contains the following books:

Jumping Off The Planet (2000)
Bouncing Off the Moon (2001)
Leaping To The Stars (2002)
Jumping off the Planet recieved the 2002 Hal Clement (Young Adult Award)for Excellance in Children's Science Fiction Literture http://www.goldenduck.org/winners.php

In addition, Gerrold has also published the following novels:

The Flying Sorcerers (with Larry Niven) (1971)
The Space Skimmer (1972)
Moonstar Odyssey (1977)
Deathbeast (1978)
Chess With A Dragon (1987)
In 2005, he was awarded the Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology in Telluride, Colorado.

From Wikipedia

Production Notes About 'Martian Child'

2007-08-05T10:56:00.000+01:00

David Gordon (John Cusack) is an eccentric science fiction writer who considers adopting Dennis (Bobby Coleman), a young orphaned boy who claims to be from Mars. Ignoring some sage advice about the perils of parenthood from his sister, Liz (Joan Cusack), and the qualms of children’s group home director, Sophie (Sophie Okonedo), David decides he wants to be a father to the odd youngster who keeps insisting he is an alien. Even with the support of his sympathetic friend, Harlee (Amanda Peet), the aspiring dad soon finds himself in way over his head.

For starters, he’s in danger of missing his next publishing deadline and that has his nervous agent, Jeff (Oliver Platt), pretty worried. And then there is the social worker, Lefkowitz (Richard Schiff), and his review board who also have some serious doubts about David’s suitability as a dad.

In the midst of all this, young Dennis exhibits some pretty strange behavior and adamantly insists that he does indeed come from the red planet. A series of inexplicable events ultimately leads David to wonder if the boy’s claims are based on fact or fantasy.

Whatever the true origins of this strange little boy, David gradually finds himself growing more and more attached to him. Finally, when Dennis tries to live out the last chapter of his fantasy and unknowingly puts himself into serious danger, David discovers the transformational power of his love for the ‘Martian’ child.

Martian Child is a thought provoking comedy-drama about a widower who adopts a highly unusual young boy. Introducing Bobby Coleman, who stars opposite Best Actor Golden Globe Nominee John Cusack (Must Love Dogs, High Fidelity), the film also stars Amanda Peet (Something’s Gotta Give), as well as Oscar nominees Joan Cusack (Working Girl, In and Out) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda), and Golden Globe & Emmy nominee Oliver Platt (“Huff,” “The West Wing”) and Emmy winner Richard Schiff (“The West Wing”).

Based on the Hugo and Nebula Award winning short story by sci-fi luminary David Gerrold, the film is directed by Menno Meyjes (Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of The Color Purple and writer/director of Lionsgate's Max). The producers are David Kirschner, Corey Sienega and Ed Elbert. The screenwriters are Seth Bass & Jonathan Tolins.

The behind-the-scenes team is led by director of photography Robert Yeoman (The Royal Tenenbaums, Dogma, Drugstore Cowboy), production designer Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski (Dirty Pretty Things, Birthday Girl, Snatch), costume designer Michael Dennison (Mona Lisa Smile, The Chronicles of Riddick) and editor Valdis Oskarsdottir (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Finding Forrester).

From Official site

Late Night with Conan O'Brien - Amanda Peet (2007.05.07)

2007-08-04T22:12:00.000+01:00

Late Night with Conan O'Brien - Amanda Peet (2007.05.07)

http://rapidshare.com/files/30879623/Conan.O.Brien.2007.05.07.Amanda.Peet.HDTV.XViD-STFU.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/30879590/Conan.O.Brien.2007.05.07.Amanda.Peet.HDTV.XViD-STFU.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/30879578/Conan.O.Brien.2007.05.07.Amanda.Peet.HDTV.XViD-STFU.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/30879233/Conan.O.Brien.2007.05.07.Amanda.Peet.HDTV.XViD-STFU.part4.rar

JOHN CUSACK Interview to TISCALI about Serendipity

2007-08-04T21:19:00.000+01:00

John Cusack's on a rom-com roll. After the huge success of High Fidelity and America's Sweethearts, now he stars alongside our own Kate Beckinsale in Serendipity, a tall tale of two young people trying to find each other, years after the briefest of encounters. The word Serendipity, coined from the title of an old Sri Lankan fairy story, means "an aptitude for making fortunate discoveries accidentally", and that's just what the couple have - in spades. Without ever getting too slushy, the film's a rush of smart detective work and crazy coincidence that really does get you rooting for the increasingly panicked protagonists. It's very Christmasy, it's set in a sparkling New York untouched by the hand of fear - it's a fun waste of an hour and a half. Here, TISCALI gets the lowdown from Mr Cusack himself

Your onscreen relationship with Kate Beckinsale is very natural, very convincing, as if you'd known each other for a long time.

JC: "I'd met her once before, but I didn't know her. I think sometimes you meet people and you feel like you've known them for a long time. And I think good actors can sort of see into people and immediately you have a chemistry with them or not. It's like an affair with no mess. You don't actually consummate it, but you get to pretend, imagine what it would be like. And you get to have a great time with that person - if you like 'em."

One person John HAS known for a long time is co-star Jeremy Piven. As a kid in Chicago he attended Piven's parents' theatre workshop and the pair, great friends ever since, have appeared in nine movies together. In Serendipity, Piven plays Cusack's best buddy, who joins him in the search for Beckinsale and is gradually changed by the experience. The banter between them is always easy, and hugely entertaining.

JC: "We just have a good time. A lot of acting is about developing shorthand with somebody. So, if you're working with somebody you've known for a long time, you already have all that history".

Cusack's finest and funniest scenes, though, are those he shares with Eugene Levy, star of Best In Show, who plays a neurotic and hilariously controlling shop assistant.

JC: "Yeah, he's like a bulldozer. You have to step back and get out of his way. Those scenes had a lot of ad-libbing, and they were so good they ended up being much longer than they were in the original script. And they added a scene so Eugene would reappear at the end."

Having co-written Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity, and started his own New Crime production company, Cusack is something of an artistic Defender Of The Faith. Like his friend and mentor, Tim Robbins, he likes his movies to be deeper than the norm. Serendipity, though, is very simple.

JC: "Yeah, it has a light and romantic feeling. You know what's gonna happen - boy's gonna meet girl, they miss each other and they're gonna end up together again. It's a piece of entertainment. You buy the ticket and take the ride. You try to make it as good and enjoyable as you can along the way, but you don't want to make it too complicated. That would be like trying to get blood out of a turnip."

After starring in Con Air, Cusack said he took the role because the money, fame and consequent power would allow him to concentrate on his own New Crime projects. Is this also why he chose to make Serendipity?

JC: "Yeah, but it's not just about New Crime, it's about doing things I find interesting."

Cusack found himself promoting Serendipity in New York, shortly after the September 11th catastrophe. Was that problematic?

JC: "That was very difficult to do. I didn't want to do any talk-shows or do anything for the film, but then we had everyone, including the Mayor, saying 'Please come to New York'. Then I talked to the people at Miramax and Harvey Weinstein and he said 'We're a New York company, the film's set in New York - we should come and do this for the city.' I was OK with that, as long as I knew the movie was positioned right, as long as we were SUPPORTING the city. Most of all, the city WANTED us there. They wanted their baseball games back, and their movies, and this movie had a nice, romantic vision of New York that people want to remember, and will be again."

Serendipity makes New York look truly beautiful, a real wintery wonderland. Incredible really, as it was filmed throughout a boiling August, with shooting shut down on several occasions due to Central Park being sprayed for mosquitos. It's great to see, a real change from the grim pictures we've endured in 2001.

JC: "I think people were really glad to not see those images in their head any more. They'd got to the point where they wanted to feel something else. So people seemed to be drinking the movie up, really glad to see the city in a different way than as the home of a mass tragedy. Which is true, it IS much more than that."

Did any shots have to be edited out, in the wake of the attack?

JC: "I guess there was. I didn't see the edit before they made the cuts, but I guess there was a shot of the World Trade towers."

Did the events of September 11th have any impact on Cusack's choice of future roles. Did it see him shying away from violent movies?

JC: "No. My perspective on that was well formed before all that happened in America. It just made me more resolute in doing stuff that I like. Though I do think there's gonna be more opportunities to do stuff that looks at things in a more complex way, rather than giving very simple answers to very complex questions, like most films do. Those films just don't seem very helpful."

Does he think the movie industry is over-reacting to the attack, maybe even cashing in on the current burst of patriotism?

JC: "I haven't seen any of those movies yet. But I think any time you stop looking at evil as a black and white thing, it's helpful. So the fact that there won't be any of your obligatory Islamic terrorist stereotypes in movies any more, that'd be helpful."

Is that why Cusack chose his next project, Max (formerly known as Hoffman), where he plays an art teacher who ends up teaching the young Adolf Hitler?

JC: "Well, it doesn't at all condone or sympathise what Hitler did. It looks at him as a complex human being. An evil one, but a human being nonetheless. He's not a cartoon, he's a 31-year-old corporal who was a racist, who wanted to learn about modern art."

The next time we'll see Cusack onscreen will be in Spike Jonze's Adaptation. John, of course, starred as puppeteer and weirdo Craig Schwartz in Jonze's brilliant Being John Malkovich.

JC: "Yes. It's an insane script, obviously, because Charlie Kaufman wrote it. There's a point in the movie where Charlie - I mean his character - goes to visit the set of Being John Malkovich, which he also wrote. So the Escher maze just keeps going. So I'm an actor playing Craig Schwarz in the film Being John Malkovich, in the film Adaptation."

He's also signed on to make White Jazz.

JC: "Yeah, that, Being John Malkovich and Max were the best three scripts I've read in the last six years. In White Jazz, I play this guy called Junior Stemmons in Fifties' Los Angeles. It's typical James Ellroy insanity, very dark, very dreamscapey. I think it's starting up in January, maybe February, as soon as the finances are in place."

Serendipity is directed by Peter Chelson, British helmsman of Hear My Song and Funny Bones. Does he have any plans to work with British directors or actors again?

JC: "Well, the British keep employing me, and that makes me like them. It also makes me think they're very intelligent.

And is he aware of the campaign to get him to run for president?

JC: "Yeah".

Is he supporting it?

JC: "No."

He doesn't fancy the pay cut?

JC: "Hah! No, you couldn't say what you wanted if you were president."

from tiscali.co.uk

Martian Child HD Trailer

2007-08-04T17:41:00.000+01:00

Amanda Peet Biography

2007-08-04T17:10:00.000+01:00

Date of Birth
11 January 1972, New York, New York, USA

Height
5' 8" (1.73 m)

Mini Biography
Amanda Peet grew up in New York with her older sister and their parents, Charles, a lawyer, and Penny, a social worker. She made an unconventional stage debut at the age of three when she jumped onto the stage during a play; yet, despite this early start, she later studied acting more as a hobby than anything else. She studied history at Columbia University where a drama professor convinced her to audition for acting teacher Uta Hagen, with whom she later went on to study for a four-year period; during which time, she participated in the off-Broadway revival of Clifford Odets' "Awake and Sing." She supported herself during the audition phase of her career by waitressing and with the residual checks she received from a Skittles candy commercial. Perseverance and hard work paid off, and in 1995, she was cast in a guest-starring role on the hit series "Law & Order" (1990).

Her feature film debut came in 1995 in the movie Animal Room (1995). For a while after, Amanda continued to find steady work, but also found herself appearing in a depressingly large number of indie films that were never picked up. She did however, meet her boyfriend Brian Van Holt on the set of indie movie Whipped (2000). Her turn as the ditzy hit-woman with the heart of gold in the hit comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000) opposite Bruce Willis, that took her from supporting role status to leading lady. That same year she was voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People In The World By People Magazine.

Spouse
David Benioff (30 September 2006 - present) 1 child

Trivia
Graduated from Columbia University in 1994.

Voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the World 2000 by People Magazine.

Was maid of honor at actress Lauren Holly's wedding to Francis Greco. [10 March 2001]

Worked at "City Crab" in New York before hitting it big. (Source: Interview, "Larry King Live" (1985), 10 February 2000).

Replaced Amelia Heinle (the original Jack in the "Jack & Jill" (1999) pilot episode).

Attended Friends Seminary high school with actor Liev Schreiber when he was a senior and she was a freshman.

Educated at an all-girls' prep school in London.

Her father, Charles, has been a prominent corporate attorney in New York City for decades.

Ranked #44 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002).

Engaged to David Benioff [July 22, 2005].

Has one older sister.

Named #87 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).

Did not learn to drive until she moved to L.A. in 2000.

Her character, "Jordan McDeere" on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (2006), is based on former NBC president Jamie Tarses.

Mother: the former Larry (sic) Levy, who was born in England.

At age 35, she gave birth to her first child. Daughter, Frances Pen was born on February 20, 2007 weighing 6 lbs, 10 oz. The baby's middle name is in honor of Amanda's mom, Penny.

Amanda and David were married at her alma mater, Friends Seminary high school, in New York City.

Personal Quotes
"And I also definitely love glamor. I mean, I love getting dressed up, and having someone do my make-up and feeling pretty. I'm not gonna lie about that, cause that's part of what I love about what I do. But celebrity.. it's like the feeling of going to the prom, the adolescent feeling of popularity. As an actor, my main focus is finding good writing and attacking a good role. I mean, I understand when you're incredibly famous that it becomes difficult to deal with the publicity aspect. But people who are like me, who go, "Oh, I'm not gonna do that. I'm just here for the work!" I find it to be a little pretentious, honestly. Cause you're not that famous. Calm down."

Info Provided by IMDB

John Paul Cusack Biography

2007-08-04T16:54:00.000+01:00

Date of Birth
28 June 1966, Evanston, Illinois, USA

Birth Name
John Paul Cusack

Height
6' 2½" (1.89 m)

Mini Biography
John Cusack is, like most of his characters, an unconventional hero. Wary of fame and repelled by formulaic Hollywood fare, the Chicago-born actor has built a successful career playing underdogs and odd men out--all the while avoiding the media spotlight. With the exception of mom Nancy (a former math teacher), the Cusack clan is all show business: father Dick Cusack is an actor and filmmaker, and John's siblings Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Bill Cusack and Susie Cusack are all thespians by trade. Like his brother and sisters, John became a member of Chicago's Piven Theatre Workshop while he was still in elementary school. By age 12, he already had several stage productions, commercial voice overs and industrial films under his belt. He made his feature film debut at 17, acting alongside Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy in the romantic comedy Class (1983). His next role, as a member of Anthony Michael Hall's geek brigade in Sixteen Candles (1984), put him on track to becoming a teen-flick fixture. Cusack remained on the periphery of the Brat Pack, sidestepping the meteoric rise and fall of most of his contemporaries, but he stayed busy with leads in films like The Sure Thing (1985) and Better Off Dead... (1985). Young Cusack is probably best remembered for what could be considered his last adolescent role: the stereo-blaring romantic Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything... (1989). A year later, he hit theaters as a grown-up, playing a bush-league con man caught between his manipulative mother and headstrong girlfriend in The Grifters (1990).

The next few years were relatively quiet for the actor, but he filled in the gaps with off-screen projects. He directed and produced several shows for the Chicago-based theater group The New Criminals, which he founded in 1988 (modeling it after Tim Robbins' Actors' Gang in Los Angeles) to promote political and avant-garde stage work. Four years later, Cusack's high school friends Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis joined him in starting a sister company for film, New Crime Productions. New Crime's first feature was the sharply written comedy Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), which touched off a career renaissance for Cusack. In addition to co-scripting, he starred as a world-weary hit man who goes home for his ten-year high school reunion and tries to rekindle a romance with the girl he stood up on prom night (Minnie Driver). In an instance of life imitating art, Cusack actually did go home for his ten-year reunion (to honor a bet about the film's financing) and ended up in a real-life romance with Driver. Cusack's next appearance was as a federal agent (or, as he described it, "the first post-Heston, non-biblical action star in sandals") in Con Air (1997), a movie he chose because he felt it was time to make smart business decisions. He followed that with Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), in which he played a Yankee reporter entangled in a Savannah murder case.

Cusack has always favored offbeat material, so it was no surprise when he turned up in the fiercely original Being John Malkovich (1999). Long-haired, bearded and bespectacled, he was almost unrecognizable in the role of a frustrated puppeteer who stumbles across a portal into the brain of actor John Malkovich. The convincing performance won him a Best Actor nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. In 2000, Cusack was back to his clean-shaven self in High Fidelity (2000), another New Crime production. He worked with Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis to adapt Nick Hornby's popular novel (relocating the story to their native Chicago), then starred as the sarcastic record store owner who revisits his "Top 5" breakups to find out why he's so unlucky in love. The real Cusack has been romantically linked with several celebs, including Driver, Alison Eastwood, Claire Forlani and Neve Campbell. He's also something of a family man, acting frequently opposite sister Joan Cusack and pulling other Cusacks into his films on a regular basis. He seems pleased with the spate of projects on his horizon, but admits that he still hasn't reached his ultimate goal: to be involved in a "great piece of art".

Trivia
Brother of Joan Cusack, Ann Cusack, Susie Cusack and Bill Cusack. Son of Dick Cusack (actor, documentary filmmaker) and Nancy Cusack (teacher).

Last name is pronounced Q-sack.

Has a production company called New Crime Productions (that produced Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), and The Jack Bull (1999) (TV) among various stage productions) which he founded with two of his high school buddies Steve Pink & D.V. DeVincentis.

Education: Piven Theatre Workshop (Evanston, Illinois), run by the parents of actor Jeremy Piven. One semester at NYU.

Attended Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Ill.

Turned down Woody Harrelson's role in Indecent Proposal (1993).

Dated Neve Campbell. [2001]

Dated Lili Taylor.

Dated Alison Eastwood.

Dated Claire Forlani.

Dated Minnie Driver.

Turned down Bill Paxton's role in Apollo 13 (1995).

Close friends with actor Jeremy Piven. They have done 10 movies together: One Crazy Summer (1986), Elvis Stories (1989), Say Anything... (1989), The Player (1992), Floundering (1994), The Grifters (1990), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Serendipity (2001) and Runaway Jury (2003).

Is the product of a passionately liberal Irish Catholic family, visited the radical Berrigan brothers when he was growing up, and, like them, his mother still gets arrested for her anti-militarism and pro- human rights protests.

On free time likes to go "Helecopter Snowboarding" and kickboxing with stunt cordinator Benny Urquidez.

Tested for the role of Madmartigan in Willow (1988) but lost to Val Kilmer.

Is the subject of the song "Honorable Mention" by the band Fall Out Boy.

The novel "Love In The Time Of Cholera" by author Gabriel Garcia Marquez is prominently referenced in two John Cusack movies (High Fidelity (2000) and Serendipity (2001).

Sister Joan Cusack appeared in 8 of his movies:Class (1983), Sixteen Candles (1984), Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), Broadcast News (1987), Say Anything... (1989), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Cradle Will Rock (1999) and High Fidelity (2000).

Was originally set to play Walter Eberhart in the _Stepford Wives, The (2004)_ . Due to conflicts, he had to drop out and Matthew Broderick got the role.

Was once roommates with Jeremy Piven

Attended a theatre school in Chicago with sisters Joan Cusack and Ann Cusack. The theatre school was run by the parents of his best friend, Jeremy Piven

Irish-American.

His favorite group is the punk rock band, The Clash. He is also a big fan of The Specials and Elvis Costello.

Ranked #15 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]

Die-hard Chicago Cubs fan.

Some kind of reference to his favorite bands (usually The Clash, The Ramones or The Specials) makes at least one appearance in most of his films. Most of the time, he wears a t-shirt of one of the bands (Say Anything... (1989), High Fidelity (2000), Must Love Dogs (2005), etc), but sometimes (Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)) he works in a poster of one of the bands. These bands are typically in the soundtracks to his New Criminal's productions as well.

Member of the "Brat Pack", the name for the actors who tended to star in teen movies of the 80's. Others include Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Demi Moore, Charlie Sheen and Diane Lane.

Most famous member of the Cusack family.

He and his good friend Tim Robbins made 6 movies together: Bob Roberts (1992), Cradle Will Rock (1999), High Fidelity (2000), The Player (1992), The Sure Thing (1985) and Tapeheads (1988)

Was, for a long time, attached to play the role of "Nite Owl" in the doomed movie adaptation of Alan Moore's comic-book mini-series, _Watchmen (2008)_ .

Was originally the actor chosen to play John Bender in the The Breakfast Club (1985). At the last minute, things changed and Judd Nelson ended up in the role.

Was good friends with Hunter S. Thompson and nearly got to play him in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).

Was considered for the role of "Paul Brenner" in The General's Daughter (1999), but was deemed too young at the time, so the role went to John Travolta instead.

His performance as "Lloyd Dobler" in Say Anything... (1989) is ranked #72 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Apocalypse Now (1979) is one of his favorite films.

During the famous "boom box serenade" scene in Say Anything... (1989), he is actually playing his favorite Fishbone tape on the boom box, while Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" is played in the movie. (source: Cameron Crowe commentary on the DVD).

Growing up John and his siblings often put on plays at their home. He has mentioned that his older sister Ann once staged a production of "Cinderella" in their living room in which she played Cinderella, sister Joan played the Ugly Stepsister, brother Bill played Prince Charming and John played the dog.

Considers the scripts to Max (2002/I) and Being John Malkovich (1999) the best he has read.

Personal Quotes
"I was a teen star. That's disgusting enough."

[on celebrity] "I have a healthy fear of it. I'm not into the celebrity culture aspect of being an artist. To me it represents extinction. The more people know about you, the less they want to try to figure out what you have to say in your movies, and the less credibility you have. To me it seems: Go do your thing, then get out. That's the best way to do it." (January 14, 2004)

"Nope, no sex scandals yet. But I am open to offers!" (January 14, 2004)

Info Provided by IMDB

Info About Martian Child

2007-08-04T07:13:00.000+01:00

Martian Child

Plot Outline:Crushed by the death of his fiancée, a writer (Cusack) adopts a 6-year-old boy in an effort to create a family. The boy, who desperately wants a father, is troubled by the idea that he's from Mars.

Synopsis:The romantic drama 'Martian Child' stars John Cusack as a recently widowed science fiction writer who forms an unlikely family with a close friend (Amanda Peet) and a young boy he adopts that claims to be from Mars. The new couple ignores some sage parenting advice from the widower's sister (Joan Cusack) and gets more than they bargained for when a series of strange occurrences lead them to believe that the child's claim may be true. Based on an award-winning short story by sci-fi luminary David Gerrold, 'Martian Child' is directed by Menno Meyjes and produced by David Kirschner, Corey Sienega and Ed Elbert.

Main Cast:

Bobby Coleman ... Dennis

John Cusack

Joan Cusack

Amanda Peet ... Harlee

Oliver Platt

Sophie Okonedo

David Kaye ... Alex

Suzy Joachim

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