[Kyoto, Nov 20] Japanese consortium Hibachi Heavy Industries has sparked a diplomatic row with its proposal for a theme park based on Sir David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai. British prisoner of war associations have expressed particular outrage at plans for 'The Hellfire Pass,' a rollercoaster based on the climactic scene of a train plunging into a river when the bridge is demolished. A corrugated iron day spa with animatronic models of Sir Alec Guinness dispensing towels has also come in for criticism.
The proposed park and eco-resort in Myanmar near the border with Thailand will accommodate up to 1200 guests, who will be encouraged to grow their own food. A creche for guests' children will also feature a 'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence Go Round' salvaged from a defunct Australian theme park. - M.N.B.
[San Francisco, Nov 16] The Federated Guild 0f Hairdressers have picketed the set of Bullitt 2.0, demanding that a Ford Mustang used as character Walter Chalmer's hairdresser's car be changed to something 'less demeaning to the image of hairdressers.' [see: Bullitt remake to be "environmentally friendly." ]Guild representative Cyrus Pfaff told Insight | Unsound that hairdressers have 'endured years of ridicule, without filmmakers rubbing salt into the wound.' 'I mean, why a Mustang? Everyone knows they're an old man's car. You couldn't get more effeminate if you tried.' Asked what car he would prefer the character drove, Mr Pfaff suggested a 1967 Karmann Ghia. - R.B.
[Buffalo, Nov 7] Pharmaceuticals conglomerate Updike has started legal proceedings against Morgan Spurlock for his sequel to Supersize Me!, his 2006 film documenting a month's diet of McDonald's food. Updike claims The Vomitorium of Doctor Ipecaccus will bring its popular emetic into disrepute. - M. N. B.
[New York, Oct 13] At a gala event held in New York to mark the 40th anniversary of the start of production on The French Connection, director William Friedkin spoke at length of the fond memories he had of the shoot, the lasting friendships that were forged, and the respect he developed for his colleagues. On Gene Hackman: I almost fell asleep. I really found him boring. On Roy Scheider: He'd go into a sulk and he'd be almost impossible to talk to. I haven't seen him for 31 years. On Fernando Rey: I said "Let’s get that French guy in Belle De Jour. You assholes. You @#$%&* morons. This is the wrong $%#@! guy. You got the wrong %^$#@ actor!" On Producer Philip D'Antoni: You asshole! You @#$%&* moron. On Steve McQueen: It wasn't that I didn't think of Roy right away, but Steve McQueen was my idol, and I wanted to work with him. So I told Steve to go @#$% himself, and then I sent the script to Roy. On Screenwriter Ernest Tidyman: I don't think there's a line in it or a word that Tidyman wrote, certainly none of the dialogue. - D. K.
(Sep 6) Veteran film critic for Empire, Variety and Insight Unsound Roger Bartlett has been involuntarily admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic for abuse of prescription painkillers. Roger has suffered severe pain and embarrassment since his well-publicized admission to the Cedar Sinai Hospital following a gardening accident. Roger has vowed to continue reviewing from his hospital bed. Get well soon, Roger! — M. N. B.
(Sep 4) Aussie from Downunder Baz Luhrmann has announced a sequel to Australia, his epic paean to 1930s special effects. The new film, as yet unnamed, will feature a 'sustainable lifestyle' plot after the original drew fire from the animal rights lobby for its livestock-based screenplay. The story resumes at the end of WWII, with Lady Sarah Ashley's (Nicole Kidman) Faraway Downs transformed into a cabbage farm. While Hugh Jackman's 'Drover' character takes a truckload of lentils to Darwin, the scion of the neighbouring Fletcher family (Sir Ian Turpie) enviously stalks the boundaries as 'The Vegetarian.' — M. N. B.
(Sep 1) Russell Crowe's manager has denied a news report that the Oscar-nominated Austrian actor had been banned from a German pub near the set of his new film, The Dambusters. Britain's Sunday Mail reported that a spirited argument about Steve McQueen apparently ended with the 49-year-old actor being banned from Die Brickmakers in Windlesham, Westphalia. Crowe's manager Graham Van der Valk said the newspaper story was untrue. He added that no casting decisions for the remake of Bullitt had been finalized. — M. N. B.
(Sep 4) Aussie from Downunder Baz Luhrmann has announced a sequel to Australia, his epic paean to 1930s special effects. The new film, as yet unnamed, will feature a 'sustainable lifestyle' plot after the original drew fire from the animal rights lobby for its livestock-based screenplay. The story resumes at the end of WWII, with Lady Sarah Ashley's (Nicole Kidman) Faraway Downs transformed into a cabbage farm. While Hugh Jackman's 'Drover' character takes a truckload of lentils to Darwin, the scion of the neighbouring Fletcher family (Sir Ian Turpie) enviously stalks the boundaries as 'The Vegetarian.' — M. N. B.
(Sep 1) Russell Crowe's manager has denied a news report that the Oscar-nominated Austrian actor had been banned from a German pub near the set of his new film, The Dambusters. Britain's Sunday Mail reported that a spirited argument about Steve McQueen apparently ended with the 49-year-old actor being banned from Die Brickmakers in Windlesham, Westphalia. Crowe's manager Graham Van der Valk said the newspaper story was untrue. He added that no casting decisions for the remake of Bullitt had been finalized. — M. N. B.
(Aug 31) Michael Crawford has revealed to the BBC’s Radio Five that his biggest professional regret was turning down the Steve McQueen role in the proposed remake of Bullitt in 1986. ‘I might have been bigger than Brad Pitt,’ he told Mark Kemmode on Sunday night, ‘and not ringing bells dressed up as Charles Laughton.’ - M. N. B.
(Aug 27) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been slated for the remake of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Set on the campus of a small college, the film focuses on the violent and volatile relationship of Professor Gibson and his overweight, hard-drinking, and crudely boisterous wife Martha, the daughter of the college president. The production has a reputed budget of $25 million for CGI. - M. N. B.
(Aug 26) Tom Cruise has flown into New Zealand to meet Peter Jackson. Ostensibly, he's there to discuss the role of Bilbo Baggins in Halo. But our source has placed Tom as secret frontrunner for the part of Guy Green in Jackson's The Dambusters. - M. N. B.
(Aug 14) Peter Jackson's forthcoming remake of The Dambusters, currently being shot over the fjords of New Zealand's south island and starring Russell Crowe as Barnes Wallis, has offended some modern sensibilities. The New Zealand government is threatening to boycott the production after learning the 2010 release recasts it as the enemy in WW2. This follows controversy over the name of a dog in the original film (1955), which was deeply offensive to Norwegians. The new dog, a Pomeranian, will be called 'Blondie.' And to avoid causing offence in the Bible Belt states, the US release will be retitled The Darnbusters. - M. N. B.
(Aug 3) News of a Bullitt remake has been circulating for years, with Wolfgang Peterson as director, and Brad Pitt to star in the Steve McQueen role. However, nothing has come of it so far. But one of our contacts claims he has heard the script is finally ready to go out to actors for reading, and the name that's first in line is Russell Crowe. Could a Bullitt remake work with him? We have our doubts. In other remake news, the push is on to get Dirty Harry remade with, of all people, Keanu Reeves, and Bryan Singer will direct Excalibur. - D. K.
