My nephew Nicolas always pulls a wonderful performance out of his hat, even as a little kid he could imitate a computer. His work in Michael Sarnoski’s “Pig” and his most recent performance in Kristoffer Borgli’s “Dream Scenario” is beyond an old Uncle’s praise.
My beloved nephew Jason has had an incredible year of cinematic achievements. From “Asteroid City” to “Across The Spider-Verse” to his role as a Cantor in the upcoming, “Between The Temples” which just premiered at Sundance, his versatility is a mark of true talent. I am blessed to have him included in the cast of @megalopolisfilm .
As a kid, Jason was a wonderful little boy who enjoyed his cousin Roman lifting him up in the air. Roman was also the first to put drumsticks in Jason’s hands.
My beloved nephew Jason has had an incredible year of cinematic achievements. From “Asteroid City” to “Across The Spider-Verse” to his role as a Cantor in the upcoming, “Between The Temples” which just premiered at Sundance, his versatility is a mark of true talent. I am blessed to have him included in the cast of @megalopolisfilm .
As a kid, Jason was a wonderful little boy who enjoyed his cousin Roman lifting him up in the air. Roman was also the first to put drumsticks in Jason’s hands.
My beloved nephew Jason has had an incredible year of cinematic achievements. From “Asteroid City” to “Across The Spider-Verse” to his role as a Cantor in the upcoming, “Between The Temples” which just premiered at Sundance, his versatility is a mark of true talent. I am blessed to have him included in the cast of @megalopolisfilm .
As a kid, Jason was a wonderful little boy who enjoyed his cousin Roman lifting him up in the air. Roman was also the first to put drumsticks in Jason’s hands.
I was friends with Jim Morrison when we were film students at UCLA…
He was a very warm and kind person, very considerate, interesting, and had a strong interest in philosophy. His father made a big impression on him, he was a naval Admiral, commander of an aircraft carrier.
One night they (The Doors) brought me their record and I listened to “Light My Fire.” Two years later, they were a big deal.
On the set of APOCALYPSE NOW, one of my editors, Barry Malkin, was set to go home on a Saturday (I was still shooting), and I visited the editing room before he left. I saw a bin that was filled with The Doors’ songs and noticed one with the title “The End” and jokingly said, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if we started the beginning of the movie with a song called The End?” I then reached into the bin of what was to be scrapped footage and just pulled out anything. It turned out to be some film showing helicopters sliding by the flames of the big napalm drop in the “Battle of the Valkyries” scene. And I liked it, so I made it the beginning.
It’s so silly in life not to pursue the highest possible thing you can imagine, even if you run the risk of losing it all. You can’t be an artist and be safe. Thank you to to @manohladargis for the wonderful conversation for @nytimes
The love of my life.
Advice for aspiring filmmakers: I don’t think there’s any artist of any value who does not doubt what they’re doing.
I was a young father of two children with a third on the way, and I was already in debt due to my dream of being an independent filmmaker of small art films. George Lucas, my cofounder of our struggling company, American Zoetrope, emphatically told me, “You have to accept this job. We have no money and the sheriff is coming to chain up the front door.” And so I accepted the offer to direct “The Godfather,” which surprisingly had been turned down by the best directors of the time, including Elia Kazan—probably the best director of acting in the entire history of cinema.
I’d recommend reading Kazan’s chapter in “Directors on Directing” by Toby Cole.
Regarding casting, I never make detailed notes, because the type of person who “sticks in your mind” has that unique ingredient, which also sticks in the audience’s mind.
Good acting and writing are the oxygen and hydrogen of cinema. If you don’t have either of them, it will be impossible to have a good movie. And if you have both of them, then other weaknesses will be almost irrelevant.
My favorite Christmas Movie? Home movies.
I do like IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, like everybody.
I have always loved Alexander Korda’s THE THIEF OF BAGDAD. How is this a Christmas film, you ask? It’s not. It’s just a film I loved so much that it was the ultimate treat. In it there’s the handsome Caliph (who reminds me of my brother, August) and the kid Sabu (me) and “we” go on a magical adventure together (my greatest dream).
The first 2 photos show the comparison in my imagination (August on the left and me on the right).
I also enjoy Vittorio De Sica’s MIRACLE IN MILAN.
I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday!
My favorite Christmas Movie? Home movies.
I do like IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, like everybody.
I have always loved Alexander Korda’s THE THIEF OF BAGDAD. How is this a Christmas film, you ask? It’s not. It’s just a film I loved so much that it was the ultimate treat. In it there’s the handsome Caliph (who reminds me of my brother, August) and the kid Sabu (me) and “we” go on a magical adventure together (my greatest dream).
The first 2 photos show the comparison in my imagination (August on the left and me on the right).
I also enjoy Vittorio De Sica’s MIRACLE IN MILAN.
I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday!
I hear the ‘mob wife aesthetic’ is making a come back…
The inspiration for the style of @diane_keaton ‘s character KAY was my wonderful wife Eleanor and I knew that Diane had taken Ellie as an example.
On the other hand, the style of my sister, Talia Shire’s character CONNIE CORLEONE was a sultry, delightful Italian princess.
One rule of business I’ve always followed and prioritized (to my benefit) is to continue working with companies and teams who over time have proven to be good friends as well as great collaborators. This is why I am thrilled to have Adam Fogelson and @lionsgate Studios release ‘Megalopolis.’ I am confident they will apply the same tender love and care given to ‘Apocalypse Now,’ which is currently in its 45th year of astounding revenue and appreciation.
“To score Apocalypse Now, I enlisted the talents of one of the @GratefulDead drummers, @MickeyHart – he was perfectly suited for this monumental task. The instruments he created for Apocalypse Now are still being used in the band today during the “Drums and Space” portion of their concerts.” – @Francisfordcoppola This clip is from a film by @justinkreutzmann called “Let There be Drums!”.
Robert Towne was one of the ‘big brothers’ I searched for all my life. The first & only person who told me THE GODFATHER wasn’t a failure, and who suggested a new scene between Michael and his father, and then wrote it. I thanked him throughout my career and thank him once again, now that I’ve lost him. Thank you dear Robert, for all the encouragement and support you gave me, I will never forget.
Rest In Peace to the multi-talented actor, dancer, Broadway star, and musician Maurice Hines, Jr. His work alongside his brother Gregory in THE COTTON CLUB was beyond legendary, and the two of us became good friends, and I loved him.
I am proud to announce that a 4K restoration REPRISE cut of my film ONE FROM THE HEART will be released theaters beginning this weekend by @rialto.pictures
I’ve always loved ‘One from the Heart,’ despite the disruption it caused in my dreams for American Zoetrope. However, there is magic in cinema and while preparing this film for 4K, it was apparent I could refine the story. This new version is an improvement in many ways and I am proud of what was achieved with ONE FROM THE HEART: REPRISE.
Norman Jewison has died at 97, leaving behind a career of many wonderful pictures: “The Cincinnati Kid”, “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming”, “In the Heat of the Night”, “Moonstruck”, “Fiddler on the Roof” and many others, indicating the wide range and lasting impression of his long and fruitful life’s work.
I really didn’t know him well but admired his work. He had approached me to direct “Agnes of God”, but wisely, he decided to direct it himself. I personally enjoyed many of his pictures… and admired how well he worked with actors: Alan Arkin, Steve McQueen, Marisa Tomei, Cher, and of course, Nicolas Cage in “Moonstruck.”
@GopnikAlison proposes that adult brains are like spotlights: they can focus really well on one particular thing and glean specific details from it. Yet, children’s brains are like lanterns: they focus on everything at once. Children construct implicit causal models of the world (theories) using the same psychological mechanisms that scientists use to construct explicit scientific thought. The actions of a infant have a profound purpose. To us they are just doing “little baby things” but actually, they are wiring their brains, determining how they will perceive things, developing the ability to speak and understand a complex common language, and eventually, become more like adults. We adults tend only to engage in limited thoughts. This is also an explanation of why it is so developmental for young children to learn several languages, in that it causes more complexities in this formative process. Why is this important to me? Because how our species, homo-sapiens, develop, think and behave is vital to the societies we create and that which controls us.
@GopnikAlison proposes that adult brains are like spotlights: they can focus really well on one particular thing and glean specific details from it. Yet, children’s brains are like lanterns: they focus on everything at once. Children construct implicit causal models of the world (theories) using the same psychological mechanisms that scientists use to construct explicit scientific thought. The actions of a infant have a profound purpose. To us they are just doing “little baby things” but actually, they are wiring their brains, determining how they will perceive things, developing the ability to speak and understand a complex common language, and eventually, become more like adults. We adults tend only to engage in limited thoughts. This is also an explanation of why it is so developmental for young children to learn several languages, in that it causes more complexities in this formative process. Why is this important to me? Because how our species, homo-sapiens, develop, think and behave is vital to the societies we create and that which controls us.
