‘Dr. No’ Launched James Bond With A Bang 59 Years Ago

The Hollywood Reporter offers a piece on the first James Bond film, Dr. No.

When No Time to Die debuts in the U.S. at last on Oct. 8, after several years of creative and pandemic-related delays, it will mark the 27th film in the James Bond franchise. It also marks the final appearance of Daniel Craig in the starring role of 007, the debonair superspy originated by Sean Connery in the very first Bond film, 1962’s Dr. No.

Believe it or not, that one had trouble getting a green light. American producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli and his Canadian counterpart Harry Saltzman had joined forces, rather uneasily, to bring Ian Fleming’s best-selling creation to life. Most studios found the material too British and too sexual, but United Artists chief Arthur Krim offered them a modest budget of $1 million ($10 million today) to make their little adventure film.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

‘Dr. No’ Launched ‘James Bond’ With a Bang 59 Years Ago – The Hollywood Reporter 

Hollywood Reporter Interview With 'Narcos: Mexico' Showrunner Eric Newman

Having recently watched and enjoyed the fourth season of Narcos, Narcos: Mexico, on Netflix, I was interested in reading The Hollywood Reporter’s Q&A with Narcos’ showrunner Eric Newman.

(Spoiler alert if you’ve not yet watched Narcos: Mexico) 

Similar to the previous seasons of Narcos, the story of Narcos: Mexico unfolded under the guidance of an English-speaking narrator. This time, however, the narrator was kept secret until the final scene, and the reveal of his identity beckons more of the Narcos: Mexico story to be told.

The reset Narcos: Mexico — the fourth season overall in the Narcos saga — featured a primarily new cast when it traveled back to 1980s Mexico to show the birth of the Guadalajara cartel over the course of 10 episodes (which launched on Netflix on Nov. 16). 

In order to trace the origins of the Mexican drug war, the newest chapter in the cartel drama once again pitted a narco, Guadalajara's Felix Gallardo (Diego Luna), against a DEA agent, Kiki Camarena (Michael Pena). After building his empire — one that included both Pablo Escobar (played by Wagner Moura) and their Colombian rivals in Cali in a surprise crossover episode — Narcos: Mexico arrived to the unhappy ending the narrator had warned about in the season's opening minutes: Camarena was abducted, tortured and killed by Gallardo and his men.

"Kiki Camarena is the first martyr in the drug war," showrunner Eric Newman tells The Hollywood Reporter of the much-documented true story of Camarena, the undercover Mexican-American DEA agent who was abducted in Guadalajara and killed in 1985. "The collision between [Kiki and Felix] became so immediately clear as the best path to get to jumpstarting the Mexican chapter of this story."

You can read the rest of the interview via the below link:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/narcos-mexico-finale-narrator-season-2-explained-1160925 

Burt Reynolds, Movie Star Who Played It for Grins, Dies at 82

Actor Burt Reynolds has died. He was 82.  

He showed he could be a true and good actor in Deliverance, but he often preferred to make “good ole boys” comedy-actions films. I didn’t care much for these films, but they were hugely popular. 

I liked Burt Reynolds in TV’s Gunsmoke and later in Deliverance, and I liked him in Shamus, Stick, Sharkey’s Machine and several other crime films and a few westerns.

You can read about his life and work in his memoir But Enough About Me. 

And you can read about Burt Reynolds in a Hollywood Reporter piece via the below link:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/burt-reynolds-dead-deliverance-boogie-nights-star-was-82-831093

How 'Red Sparrow' Author Made The Film More "Authentically CIA"

I’ve not yet seen the film Red Sparrow, but I read the fine spy novel the film is based on, as well retired CIA officer Jason Matthews’ subsequent equally fine two novels in the Red Sparrow trilogy.

I suspect the film makers have more scenes in the film about the “sexpionage” featured in Matthews' thriller and less about the realistic “tradecraft’ and the art of street espionage that Mr. Matthews (seen in the below photo) described so well in his novels.

 Kate Kilkenny at the Hollywood Reporter interviewed Jason Matthews:  

When 20th Century Fox optioned Red Sparrow in 2013, it purchased the rights to a story that deliberately avoided spy-movie tropes: Jason Matthews' debut novel features long scenes of spies walking around cities to throw off tails, gaining new sources' trusts and trying to turn agents into double agents in the place of fancy gadgets, car chases or fight scenes on precarious ledges.

Nevertheless, the story is arriving in theaters this year as a major $69 million-budgeted movie featuring marquee names including Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Charlotte Rampling and Jeremy Irons. Part of the story's appeal, no doubt, is that its heroine, Dominika, is a "Sparrow," a Russian agent trained in seducing civilians and foreign agents to elicit information (a real program that the USSR operated in the '60s and '70s).  Another draw is that its author was once a CIA clandestine services officer himself: Matthews spent 33 years working for the CIA and was posted in the southern Mediterranean, Asia and the Caribbean. He has adapted some of those experiences into the Red Sparrow trilogy, whose last installment, The Kremlin's Candidate, was released Feb. 12.

The resulting film is a cross between an erotic thriller and slow-burn spy procedural, showing both the daily grind of office work and only slightly more glamorous fieldwork. Matthews, who has been a critic of spy movies previously, consulted on the authenticity of the movie. The Hollywood Reporter caught up with him before its release to learn what he thought of the end product.

First of all, give us a little bit of background on yourself — how long were you in the CIA’s operations directorate?

I retired about seven years ago, after 33 years at the agency. My wife and I both were in the clandestine service, which is the part of the CIA that sends officers overseas to foreign capitals under State Department diplomatic covers to live in the country of interest. What we do, basically, I use the metaphor of we’re clandestine journalists: We look for sources of information, humans, and we develop the relationship, we convince them to give us the stories or the secrets, as it were, and we write our stories up and then we protect our sources. The CIA protects its sources by operating mostly at night, after sunset, and we use tradecraft.

You can read the rest of the interview via the below link:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/red-sparrow-author-jason-matthews-made-film-authentically-cia-1089625

You can also watch a video review of the film from Deadline.com via the below link:

http://deadline.com/2018/03/red-sparrow-review-jennifer-lawrence-mary-louise-parker-charlotte-rampling-mathias-schoenaerts-1202307468/ 

Harry Dean Stanton, Quintessential American Actor, Dies At 91

The Hollywood Reporter offers a piece on the life and work of Harry Dean Stanton, one of my favorite character actors, who has died.

Harry Dean Stanton, the character actor with the world-weary face who carved out an exceptional career playing grizzled loners and colorful, offbeat characters in such films as Paris, Texas and Repo Man, has died. He was 91.

Stanton, who also was memorable in Cool Hand Luke (1967), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), John Carpenter’s Escape From New York (1981) and John Hughes’ Pretty in Pink (1986) — in fact, what wasn’t he memorable in? — died Friday afternoon of natural causes at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his agent, John Kelly, told The Hollywood Reporter.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/harry-dean-stanton-dead-paris-texas-star-91-766020 

Note: Below is a link to a brief video clip from Repo Man, where Harry Dean Stanton offers his view of “ordinary people.” Classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwSxBiS0rHY 

Joseph Bologna, 'My Favorite Year' Actor And Oscar-Nominated Screenwriter, Dies At 82

Mike Barnes at the Hollywood Reporter offers an obituary of writer/actor Joseph Bologna.

Joseph Bologna, an actor, playwright and screenwriter who was so memorable as the egotistical King Kaiser in the 1982 comedy classic My Favorite Year, has died. He was 82.

Bologna died Sunday morning at City of Hope hospital in Duarte, Calif. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years ago, said his wife of 52 years, actress and screenwriter Renee Taylor.

Bologna received an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay, shared with his wife and David Zelag Goodman, for his work on Lovers and Other Strangers (1970). The couple had first written it for Broadway in a 1968 production directed by Charles Grodin.

They penned 22 plays in all, including It Had to Be You, Bermuda Avenue Triangle and If You Ever Leave Me I'm Going With You!

Bologna and Taylor penned and starred in the semi-autobiographical Made for Each Other (1971), which Newsweek called "the best love story & comedy of the year," and co-wrote and co-directed Love Is All There Is (1996), which marked one of the first feature appearances for Angelina Jolie.

You can read the rest of the obit via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/joe-bologna-dead-my-favorite-year-actor-was-82-1029119 

Note: Not mentioned in the obit is Joseph Bologna’s outstanding role as Bill Bonanno, the son and heir of Salvatore Bonanno, the boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra organized crime family, in the TV film adaptation of Gay Talese’s true crime book Honor Thy Father.

I'd like to watch Honor Thy Father, Made For Each Other and My Favorite Year again. Good films. 

William Peter Blatty, 'The Exorcist' Writer, Dies at 89

The Hollywood Reporter offers a piece on writer William Peter Blatty (seen in the below photo), the author of The Exorcist.

William Peter Blatty, the novelist and screenwriter who helped bring the iconic horror movie The Exorcist to theaters in 1973, died Thursday, the film's director, William Friedkin, stated. He was 89. 

No cause of death was disclosed. A rep for Blatty did not immediately respond for comment. 

Blatty, who claimed the screenwriting Oscar for The Exorcist at the 46th Academy Awards, wrote the novel of the same name in 1971. The film version, which he also produced, was nominated for 10 Oscars, including best picture, but won just two trophies.

"Over the years, I understand that people consider it a horror film, and that's where it lives in the public consciousness," Friedkin wrote about The Exorcist in a 2013 essay for The Hollywood Reporter. "But it has never been that to Blatty or myself."

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/william-peter-blatty-exorcist-writer-dies-at-89-964093

Steven Hill, District Attorney Adam Schiff On 'Law & Order,' Dies at 94

Chris Koseluk at the Hollywood Reporter offers a piece on the late Steven Hill, the actor who portrayed the original DA on TV's Law & Order and the leader of the IMF on the first season of Mission Impossible.

Steven Hill, the stoic actor who was an original castmember on both the 1960s iconic television series Mission: Impossible and the ground-breaking 1990s drama Law & Order, died Tuesday. He was 94.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-hill-dead-law-order-880765

Through A Thriller-Writer's Eye: Ian Fleming's 'Thrilling Cities," The TV Series

The Spy Command website reports that a TV series about Ian Fleming's Thrilling Cities is in the works.

Actor Michael Weatherly’s production company is trying to turn Ian Fleming’s Thrilling Cities book into a television, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The story is mostly about Weatherly’s impending departure from the popular NCIS television series and Thrilling Cities only gets a passing reference.

“In the meantime, however, Weatherly said he’s busier than ever with his production company, Solar Drive Productions, which is working on turning the book Thrilling Cities, from James Bond author Ian Fleming, into a possible series,” the story by THR’s Kate Stanhope reads.

Thrilling Cities was a non-fiction book by Fleming. It was based on a series of stories he did for The Sunday Times about important cities around the world.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:    

https://hmssweblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/15/thrilling-cities-the-series/

Note: When I traveled the world while serving in the U.S. Navy back in the 1970s, I carried a paperback copy of Ian Fleming's Thrilling Cities with me.

I was pleased that I was able to visit some of the cities Fleming himself covered years before.

I read the Ian Fleming nonfiction book about his visits to the most interesting cities in the world some years earlier after I had read through his James Bond thrillers.

Thrilling Cities covered vice, crime, espionage and other fascinating aspects of the great cities. Fleming, a journalist as well as an author and former naval intelligence officer, originally published these stories in his newspaper, the London Sunday Times. 

Ian Fleming said he looked at places and things through a thriller-writer's eye.

"With his interest in crime and espionage, Fleming interviewed Charles "Charlie Lucky" Luciano, the exiled prince of American organized crime, in Naples. In Berlin, he interviewed a Cold War spy, and in other cities he interviewed detectives, crooks, journalists, authors and interesting people, " I wrote in my Crime Beat column on the book. "This is not your typical travel book."   

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Thrilling Cities and Fleming's other nonfiction book, The Diamond Smugglers via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/10/through-thriller-writers-eyes-life-work.html

E.M. Nathanson, 'The Dirty Dozen' Author, Dies At 87

The Hollywood Reporter notes that author E.M. Nathanson has died.

E.M. Nathanson, who wrote the 1965 novel The Dirty Dozen that was adapted for the film starring Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine, has died. He was 87.

Nathanson died Tuesday of heart failure in Laguna Nigel, Calif., his longtime friend Frank McAdams told The Hollywood Reporter.

Nathanson is best known for the Dirty Dozen, the story of 12 convicted servicemen — robbers, murderers, rapists — who are sent off on a suicide mission to blow up a chateau of German generals just before D-Day with the promise that those who survive will have their sentences commuted.

The novel was inspired by the supposedly true story of some World War II criminal soldiers who got the nickname the Dirty Dozen (or Filthy Thirteen, depending on the source) for their refusal to bathe and who were said to have been sent off on a similar mission. Nathanson heard the story from his friend, producer Russ Meyer (Valley of the Dolls), who said he learned of the yarn while working as a combat photographer during World War II.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/em-nathanson-dead-dirty-dozen-881401?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_now_2016-04-06%2011:15:48_ehayden&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews

Ken Adam, Oscar-Winning Production Designer For Fort Knox for 'Goldfinger' And The War Room for Stanley Kubrick’s 'Dr. Strangelove,' Dies At 95

Mike Barnes at the Hollywood Reporter offers a piece on the death of award-winning production designer Ken Adams.

The brilliant, innovative designer was responsible for the sets on Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove and Barry Lyndon, as well as Goldfinger and other great Bond films.

You can read about Ken Adams life and work via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ken-adam-dead-james-bond-874333?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_now_2016-03-10%2012:41:20_ehayden&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews

George Kennedy, Oscar Winner For 'Cool Hand Luke,' Dies at 91

The Hollywood Reporter offers a piece on the death of actor George Kennedy.

You can read the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-kennedy-dead-cool-hand-721400?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_now_2016-02-29%2013:37:13_ehayden&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews

Kanye West Offered Job By Philadelphia Police To Get Out Of Debt

The Hollywood Reporter has a piece on the Philadelphia Police offering Kanye West a job on the force to get himself out of debt.

You have the right to remain fresh. 

Kanye West has been jokingly offered a job by Philadelphia police to help him get out of debt. 

On Thursday, Philadelphia police tweeted to West that the department was hiring, and at base salary, $47,920, the rap star and clothing designer could be out of self-described $53 million debt by 3122. 

Police also tweeted a Photoshopped image of West in a uniform. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kanye-west-offered-job-by-867274

Pierce Brosnan, Martin Campbell to Adapt Ernest Hemingway Novel 'Across The River And into The Trees'

I read Hemingway's World War II combat correspondent dispatches before I read his WWII novel, Across the River and into the Trees, so I was disappointed in his fictional take on the war.

I thought the novel was mostly dull and considering that Hemingway had covered the biggest war in history and wrote some compelling and insightful journalism pieces, I think he should have written a war novel based on his reporting. Hemingway's short story about combat in WWII France, Black Ass at the Cross Roads, shows what might have been if Hemingway had written a true WWII novel.

Now the Hollywood Reporter reports that actor Pierce Brosnan and director Martin Campbell are going to make a film based on Across the River and into the Trees.

Pierce Brosnan and Martin Campbell, who first teamed up for the James Bond movie Goldeneye, are reteaming to tackle the adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel.

Brosnan will star and Campbell will direct Across the River and Into the Trees, a feature that will be produced Robert MacLean, John Smallcombe, Kirstin Roegner, and Claudia Bluemhuber. William J. Immerman will exec produce.

BAFTA winner Peter Flannery and Oscar-nominated Michael Radford (Il postino) wrote the script, which tells the story an American officer serving in Italy right after World War II, facing news of his terminal illness with stoic disregard. Determined to spend his weekend in quiet solitude, he commandeers a military driver to facilitate a simple duck hunting trip and a visit to his old haunts in Venice. As his plans begin to unravel, a chance encounter with a young countess begins to kindle in him the hope of renewal.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/berlin-pierce-brosnan-martin-campbell-862973

Netflix's 'Narcos' Renewed For Second Season

I enjoyed watching Narcos, the Netflix crime drama about the DEA special agents and others who took down Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

So I was pleased to discover through the Hollywood Reporter that the crime drama was renewed for a second season. 

You can read the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/netflixs-narcos-renewed-second-season-819924?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_2015-09-03%2008:00:00_lgoldberg&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews  

Hollywood Reporter: 'Narcos' TV Review

Tim Goodman at the Hollywood Reporter reviews Netflix's Narcos.

The world doesn’t seem to lack for Pablo Escobar biopics, so it should come as no surprise that Netflix also gets in on the action with a 10-part series called Narcos, which separates itself from the pack with an impressive breadth and depth.

In many ways, this series could end up being the critically-acclaimed international breakthrough for the streaming site thatMarco Polo wasn’t (though it got a second season), partly because the writing, acting and directing are superior and it has a grittier and more grounded feel to it.

Those factors are essential, since there have been so many movies about the Colombian drug kingpin already and the series is coming into a very crowded drama landscape. What Narcos has going for it is that Escobar’s story is, on so many levels, so stunning and strange, that the drama doesn’t have to be truncated or rushed, and can cover far more than just his rise and fall. In fact, Narcos is rumored to be well on its way to second-season renewal. 

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/narcos-netflix-pablo-escobar-816232?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_now_2015-08-19%2012:54:05_Jfrosch&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews 

P.J. O'Rourke: How I Killed 'National Lampoon'

Back in the day, I was a huge fan of the satiric magazine National Lampoon (see the great magazine cover above), and I also enjoyed the Lampoon films, such National Lampoon's Vacation and Animal House. 

I later enjoyed the satiric books and magazine pieces of former National Lampoon editor P.J. O'Rourke, who went on to become a conservative humorist.

O'Rourke offers a clever and amusing piece on National Lampoon history in the Hollywood Reporter. You can read the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pj-o-rourke-how-i-809985?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_2015-07-23%2009%3A00%3A00_nstone 

Actor Alex Rocco, Mobster Moe Greene in 'The Godfther," Dies at 79

Mike Barnes at the Hollywood Reporter offers a report on the death of Alex Rocco, who portrayed the character Moe Greene in the classic crime film, The Godfather appeared in another crime classic film, The Friends of Eddie Coyle.  

Alex Rocco, the veteran tough-guy character actor with the gravelly voice best known for playing mobster and Las Vegas casino owner Moe Greene in The Godfather, has died. He was 79.

Rocco died Saturday, his daughter, Jennifer, announced on Facebook. No other details of his death were immediately available.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/alex-rocco-dead-godfather-actor-809754?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_now_2015-07-19%2010%3A02%3A34_RGajewski

 

Ole 'Dutch' Would Have Approved: The 'Justified' Finale And Producer Graham Yost on Who Survived — and Those Elmore Leonard Tributes

My wife and I enjoyed watching the finale of the TV series Justified tonight.

We've been watching Justified for the entire six seasons and we felt that the ending was done very well and in keeping with the unique style of the late great crime writer, Elmore "Dutch" Leonard.

Marisa Roffman at the Hollywood Reporter interviewed Graham Yost, the TV series producer, about the ending and the tributes to Elmore Leonard.

You can read the interview via the below link:

[Warning: This post contains spoilers from Justified's series finale.]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/justified-finale-graham-yost-raylan-788476

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Elmore Leonard via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/05/return-to-elmoreland-elmore-leonards.html

Fox News Lands First Interview With Bin Laden Shooter

The Hollywood Reporter offers a piece on Fox News' announcement that the cable news channel will be the first to interview the U.S. Navy SEAL who killed the man responsible for the horrific 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Fox News has landed the first interview with the man who killed Osama bin Laden, which will be part of a two-night documentary airing on Nov. 11 and 12.

In the special, titled The Man Who Killed Usama Bin Laden, the Navy SEAL who says he fired the shots that killed Bin Laden, also known as "The Shooter," will reveal his identity and speak out publicly for the first time.

 The shooter will describe the events leading up to and during the raid that took place in May 2011, including his elite training and involvement in Operation Neptune Spear, the mission that killed bin Laden. He'll also offer his first-hand account of what happened during the SEAL Team 6 raid. Fox News promises that the documentary will include never-before-shared details.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-news-lands-first-interview-744824