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Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
New Jonathan Demme biography spotlights director's clashes with powerful stars — and his humanity
Before he set his sights on Hollywood, Jonathan Demme studied to become a vet. Movies may have mesmerized him since childhood, but animals were his 'parallel obsession,' writes film journalist David M. Stewart in 'There's No Going Back,' an uneven biography of the Oscar-winning director of 'The Silence of the Lambs.' In the end, chemistry classes proved too hard, and only one animal sustained Demme's interest long enough: the Alligator, the University of Florida newspaper that let him contribute film reviews. A career as a veterinarian was abandoned in favor of the movies. Demme, who died in 2017, forged a career defined by films that centered voices from society's ever-shifting margins. He spotlighted women ('Swing Shift'), Black people ('Beloved') and HIV-positive gay men ('Philadelphia') in narratives that celebrated their trials through an empathetic camera lens. Interspersed among Hollywood projects were documentaries such as 'The Agronomist,' on Haiti's only independent radio station; 'Right to Return,' about Hurricane Katrina victims fighting to access their homes again; and 'Stop Making Sense.' Demme himself witnessed the difficulty those at society's fringes faced entering spaces men (often white) had claimed and refused to relinquish. His grandmother retold rose-tinted stories of building aircraft equipment during World War II before being forcibly relegated back to her domestic life. Growing up Miami's Overtown neighborhood, Demme saw how Black people created their own unique 'music and communal energy' during segregation, a culture he would repeatedly honor in his own films. After college, Demme landed a publicity job at United Artists. During a chance encounter chauffeuring François Truffaut around, the master auteur told the desperate factotum that he had an eye for directing. Demme insisted he wasn't interested in being a director, even after the French filmmaker inscribed his copy of 'Hitchcock.' 'Yes, you are,' was Truffaut's reply. Despite these early protests, Demme moved west to Hollywood, working for B-movie producer Roger Corman on films such as the 1971 bike picture 'Angels Hard as They Come' and the salacious 1973 prison escape story 'Black Mama White Mama' before he directed 'Caged Heat' with a feminist take on the women-in-prison film that embraced satire and progressive politics. Demme directed socially conscious projects during the 1970s, tackling the disenfranchised and forgotten through action and comedy tales. 'Crazy Mama,' about a housewife intent on exacting vengeance on the men who murdered her husband, highlighted Demme's desire to recognize women's ongoing struggles against a patriarchal world. 'Fighting Mad' and 'Citizens Band' (subsequently titled 'Handle with Care') touched on corporate greed, ecological destruction and finding human connection in small-town America. 'Melvin and Howard' won two Oscars and was nominated for a third. But in an experience that would unfortunately repeat itself, the Goldie Hawn-produced 'Swing Shift' was a deeply demoralizing project for Demme. He had wanted to make a 'feminist perspective of women during wartime,' writes Stewart, while Hawn had imagined the film as a sugary rom-com. The veto power Hawn had meant the entire ending was reshot, mostly sapping Demme's dream of its political message. A decade later, Demme would suffer similar strife on the set of 'Beloved,' quarreling with Oprah Winfrey over aspects of characterization in the supernatural slavery epic. ( Winfrey told Stewart that she was banned from viewing the dailies for a brief period.) But creative comfort was found, as Demme repeated over the years, in music. There was his Talking Heads concert film 'Stop Making Sense' and several Neil Young concert films; 'Something Wild,' a Melanie Griffith movie he made after 'Swing Shift,' prominently featured Jamaican singer Sister Carol and her cover of 'Wild Thing.' Still, it was his passion for female protagonists who were 'reliable in a world of lying men' that also fueled his output, if only partly dealt with in Stewart's shorthand approach. 'The Silence of the Lambs,' 'Rachel Getting Married' and 'Ricki and the Flash' each etched, in equal parts, the strength and vulnerability of a different women — battling the criminal justice system, besieged by addiction and estranged from family — who reject victimhood as an option. 'There's No Going Back' stresses it's not a definitive biography but an effort to 'understand Demme as a filmmaker.' If Stewart can be forgiven for the light detail on Demme's upbringing for this reason (only a few pages), he is less absolved for his inconsistent, often abridged, treatments of Demme's films and what messages to glean from a long view of the director. Patchy approaches — 'Rachel Getting Married' gets some dissection with minimal production detail, while 'The Silence of the Lambs' gets extensive production detail with no film analysis — doesn't help extract Demme's thematic throughlines as a filmmaker. To end the book with his passing and without any final remarks only compounds this problem. What does somewhat redeem 'There's No Going Back' is the detail given on Demme's lifelong activism. Starting first with the freedom of expression movement, Demme moved to documenting Haiti's transformation from a dictatorship to a democracy in several energized documentaries. If political connections aren't always made back to his dramatized films, appreciating how Demme championed voices from the likes of Haiti and in the aftermath of Katrina does at least highlight his lifelong advocacy of society's most forgotten — on- and off-screen. When Demme was a young boy, his mother told him to write about the movies he so ardently watched 'to uncover the secrets behind the magic.' It may be an unfortunate irony then that this same advice Stewart recounts proves largely absent in 'There's No Going Back.' While well-intended and admiring, the biography often proves facile, showing difficulty reckoning with Demme's oeuvre and its deeper political and cinematic lessons. The book has still set some of the groundwork for a future project that may more adeptly synthesize life with art. Smith is a books and culture writer.
New York Post
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
How Hulk Hogan went from the wrestling arena to Hollywood
From the mat to the big screen. Hulk Hogan died at 71 on Thursday, July 24, following a 'serious' medical issue, in which paramedics were dispatched to his Florida home for an alleged 'cardiac arrest.' Although Hogan was famous as a wrestler, the mustachioed blond behemoth also had a colorful movie and TV career. Advertisement 15 Hulk Hogan on 'Hogan Knows Best.' Hogan's path from the ring to Hollywood began in 1982's 'Rocky III.' In Sylvester Stallone's iconic sports movie franchise, Hogan — real name Terry Bollea — played the wrestling champ Thunderlips, who faced off against Stallone's Rocky. Rocky won, naturally. Advertisement In his 2005 speech to induct Hogan into the WWE Hall of Fame, Stallone, 79, said about Hogan, 'I knew he was a star the minute I laid eyes on him.' Bill Apter, a friend of Hogan who got him into the 'Rocky' movie, said on his podcast Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, 'Sylvester Stallone's office called my office. They were looking for a certain type to play Thunderlips [in 'Rocky III']. I suggested two people: Superstar Billy Graham and Hulk Hogan.' Apter said that when he sent photos to Stallone's office, they asked to get in touch, but he couldn't reach Hogan. 15 Hulk Hogan and Sylvester Stallone in 1982's 'Rocky III.' ©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection Advertisement 'So, I called his mother. She gave him the message, and Hogan initially thought it was a joke. He found it was real, and he was all goosebumps. He knew he could do it,' he shared. In his speech during Hogan's 2005 Hall of Fame induction, Stallone said, 'People don't know if wrestling is real. In the scene, when Hulk Hogan throws me out of the ring and then jumps into the audience, we had eight stuntmen. Four and a half of them went to intensive care. Seriously!' The 'Rambo' star added, 'Four of them left in stretchers, because [Hogan] didn't know it was acting!' 15 Sylvester Stallone and Hulk Hogan in 'Rocky III.' ©United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection Advertisement Apter added, 'When they worked on the film, he was impressed by Stallone's fearlessness. You know, he wasn't afraid to get hit or thrown. And he trusted Hulk to teach him, you know, how to get thrown on the mat and not break his back. You just learned that on the fly.' He explained that the movie made Hogan look 'even bigger than he is in real life and he's a big guy. And so he was just this giant figure in a film that was at its peak of popularity. It was as big as you could get. It is peak 80s.' In his Instagram tribute to Hogan posted after his death, Stallone called him a 'brilliant personality and showman' and said, 'He was absolutely wonderful and his amazing skills made Rocky three incredibly special.' 15 Patrick O'Bryan, Joan Severance, Mark Pellegrino, Hulk Hogan, Rebecca Wackler and Bill Henderson in 'No Holds Barred.' ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection That small role in the 'Rocky' franchise catapulted him to further prominence, leading to Hogan starring in the 1989 movie 'No Holds Barred,' which was produced by WWE and saw him play a wrestling champ character named Rip. Apter explained, 'He suddenly had this popularity that expanded way beyond what wrestling was, and therefore helped turn wrestling into the phenomenon it would become through the '80s and '90s and then all the way to today. His image and his persona is Hulk Hogan, larger than life, you know, a hero type character that he developed back then.' He added, 'That truly made wrestling what it was. But he also had this reach in the worlds of music and film and television. People were drawn to him and his larger than life personality.' 15 Hulk Hogan with Chuck Norris on 'Walker Texas Ranger.' CBS Advertisement Eventually, Hogan's fame led to him getting the TV show, 'Hogan Knows Best.' Airing for four seasons on VH1, the show premiered in 2005, shortly after the reality show for another late superstar, 'The Osbournes,' put celeb-based reality TV on the map. 'Hogan Knows Best' ran until 2007 and chronicled his family. It followed Hogan, his then-wife, Linda, 65 (who was married to him from 1983 to 2009), their then-teen daughter, Brooke, 37, and son Nick, 34. Hogan's longtime friend, fellow wrestler Brian Knobbs, 61, was also often on the show, staying with the family and babysitting Hogan's kids. Advertisement 15 Hulk Hogan with his daughter Brooke on 'Hogan Knows Best.' In a 2019 interview with The Hannibal TV, Knobbs said, Hogan Knows Best was actually one of the greatest times of my life.' He explained that Hogan asked him to do it after he had knee surgery and was 'off the shelf,' uncertain about the future of his wrestling career. 'He asked if I'd come in and do this reality show.' Advertisement 'Hogan Knows Best' allowed fans to see 'the other side of me,' beyond his wrestling persona, Knobbs said, 'which is a funnier guy… I really can't thank him enough for having me on the show.' 15 Hulk Hogan with his then-wife, Linda, on 'Hogan Knows Best.' In 2016, Hogan said about the show, 'It was lightly scripted but they'd actually tell us what to say.' He added, 'If we missed a point… producers would tell us exactly what to say until they get what they wanted.' Advertisement In the final episode of 'Hogan Knows Best,' Hogan got an award for being 'Father of the Year.' Just one month later, Linda filed for divorce. 15 Madeline Zima and Hulk Hogan in 'Mr. Nanny.' ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection The show was canceled amid a slew of scandals for the family: a jail stint for Nick and a highly publicized cheating scandal for Hogan and Linda. In 2007, Nick had a car accident in Clearwater, Florida. The wreck left his friend, John Graziano, with a severe brain injury. Nick spent eight months in Pinellas County Jail after pleading no contest to a charge of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. Around the same time, Brooke's best friend, Christiane Plante, told the National Enquirer that she'd allegedly had an affair with Hulk. 15 Geoff McKnight and Hulk Hogan in 'No Holds Barred.' ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection After the 2007 cancellation of 'Hogan Knows Best,' in 'Oprah: Where Are They Now?' he said that he felt suicidal. 'Everything got dark, everything happened at once,' the former WWE star said. He added, 'I was drinking alcohol very heavily. It just all kept piling up, it all kept mounting and mounting I didn't know how to handle it. I always wondered how could someone possibly take their own life and so I got to that point where I said, 'You know what, maybe this would be easy. You know, maybe this would be an easy way to fix things.'' 15 Hulk Hogan, Yasmine Bleeth and Pamela Anderson in 'Baywatch.' Courtesy Everett Collection Brooke got a short-lived spinoff, 'Brooke Knows Best,' that ran from 2008 to 2009. Hogan also had several cameos where he played himself, including 1990's 'Gremlins 2: The New Batch' and 1999's 'Muppets From Space.' He was also featured in a 1996 episode of 'Baywatch.' On a 2021 episode of 'The Taskmaster Talks' podcast, the late former wrestler and booker Kevin Sullivan, who died in 2024, said, 'The people on Baywatch were super. They were very nice. The only thing is I think there was some animosity between Hasselhoff and Hogan.' He claimed, 'Hasselhoff was not in that episode if you recall and he didn't even come around to see Hulk. I think he was jealous of Hulk. Pamela [Anderson] was wonderful to everybody.' 15 Hulk Hogan and Madeline Zima in 'Mr. Nanny.' ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection But, at the 2010 Comedy Central roast of David Hasselhoff, Hogan joked about the 'Baywatch' actor's career being in the 'toilet' but also said, 'Brother, I love you, man. And I hope you keep doing your thing, Hoff.' In 1997, he starred in a made for TV action movie called 'Assault on Devil's Island' with the late Carl Weathers and Martin Kove. The former wrestler then progressed to several action comedies in the '90s, including 'Mr. Nanny' in 1993 – playing a tough guy tasked with babysitting kids. 1996's 'Santa With Muscles' saw him portray a conceited millionaire who thinks he's Santa. 15 Hulk Hogan in 1999's 'Muppets From Space.' ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Oddly, Jordan Belfort – the notorious former Wall Street shark who Leonardo DiCaprio played in 2013's 'The Wolf of Wall Street' – produced 'Santa With Muscles.' During a 2024 interview on Joe Rogan's podcast, Hogan said, 'If you pull up 'Santa With Muscles,' you see he has a producer credit. So he gave me money to do 'Santa With Muscles.'' When asked if he met Belfort, he added, 'I didn't have a conversation [with him], or anything.' 15 Hulk Hogan on 'Walker Texas Ranger.' CBS Hogan also appeared in a 2001 episode of 'Walker, Texas Ranger,' playing 'Boomer McKnight,' a former gangster. In recent years, his film and TV career dwindled. He voiced a character in the 2011 animated movie 'Gnomeo & Juliet' and appeared on an episode of 'The Goldbergs' in 2019. Hogan's last appearance on WWE's 'Monday Night Raw' was on the January 6, 2025, episode, and he's also listed as being involved in the upcoming 2026 animated project 'The Adventures of Tikki The Wonder Dog.' 15 Hulk Hogan in 1993's 'Mr Nanny.' ©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection 15 Sean Giambrone, Hulk Hogan, and Troy Gentile on 'The Golbbergs.' ABC via Getty Images During his 2024 appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, the wrestler was asked if he liked being in movies and TV shows. 'I used to, but no, not anymore,' Hogan replied. 'My problem was…, you'd be in makeup at 5:30 in the morning, and [when you leave] it's getting dark. I couldn't stand the process. The whole time, I'd be thinking, 'I could be out doing a lot of things.'' Referring to his wrestling career, he explained, 'To walk away from that type of intensity and money to be locked in an RV all day [on a movie set]…I couldn't handle it, man.' Hogan added, 'After the great life I've had in the entertainment business, I just love being on the beach, man. That's my mindset. I just hate leaving the beach.'
Boston Globe
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
How Alan Bergman kept the music playing
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Honorees Alan, left, and Marilyn Bergman arrive at the ASCAP Film and Television music awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Tuesday, May 6, 2008. Matt Sayles/Associated Press Advertisement Before teaming up with Marilyn in 1958, Alan worked at a Philadelphia television station. Though both Bergmans were born in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, and often attended the same events, they didn't meet until they worked separately for composer Lew Spence. It was Spence who suggested the two collaborate. The trio wrote several songs, including Frank Sinatra's 'Nice 'n' Easy' and Dean Martin's 'Sleep Warm.' The Bergmans's first movie song inadvertently described their career. They always found the right approach for the material, and their first song for a movie was the theme for the 1961 drama, 'The Right Approach.' But it wasn't until six years later that they began their streak of cinematic successes. Advertisement In the opening credits of Norman Jewison's 1967 masterpiece, 'In the Heat of the Night' Mr. Virgil Tibbs ( Sidney Poitier, center, in the 1967 film 'In the Heat of the Night.' United Artists The song is a blues number meant to evoke a sense of dread. Charles nailed the haunting vocal, and Billy Preston's organ playing added a gospel-like quality. Quincy Jones provided the music that set the tone for this murder mystery, but it's the Bergmans's lyrics that provide the protagonist's innermost thoughts. Tibbs is a Black man who is about to be stuck in racist Sparta, Mississippi during Jim Crow. As the song tells us, he'll have 'trouble wall-to-wall.' In his memoir 'This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me,' Jewison recalls Charles asking Jones if the people who wrote the lyrics were Black. 'No, Ray, they're white,' Jones responded. 'Can't be, man!' Charles said. 'Not with lyrics like that.' Indeed, 'In the Heat of the Night' contains some of the most soulful lyrics the Bergmans wrote. It's one of many examples where they understood the assignment. It really does sound like a Black man's lament, setting the stage for whatever will befall Virgil Tibbs as he deals with Rod Steiger's irascible racist, Chief Gillespie. Proving their versatility, the Bergmans also wrote lyrics for the country songs the Sparta characters listen to on their car radios and jukeboxes. These ditties are as far away from the blues as you can get. Glen Campbell sings a catchy yet hilarious one called 'Bowlegged Polly.' Advertisement The songwriters would take a more serious country music route by writing Charley Pride's 'All His Children' for the 1971 Paul Newman film, 'Sometimes a Great Notion,' but I'm getting ahead of the story. Steve McQueen in "The Thomas Crown Affair." United Artists Though it won best picture, 'In the Heat of the Night' was robbed of a best song nomination for its theme. The Academy made up for it a year later, giving Regardless, Noel Harrison's original version was a hit, and it was later covered by Dusty Springfield, Sting (for the Pierce Brosnan remake of 'Thomas Crown'), and a very, very anxious Muppet on 'The Muppet Show.' In total, Legrand and the Bergmans would earn seven Oscar nominations and two Oscars. Conversely, the next Oscar win by the Bergmans wasn't with Legrand, and it was for a song that everyone loves but me. Thanks to their fellow Brooklynite, Barbra Streisand, 'The Way We Were' may be the duo's most famous movie composition. A frequent collaborator, Streisand brought them on for 'Yentl,' where they earned their third Oscar. Streisand also sang the worst thing the Bergmans wrote, that hideous hit duet with Neil Diamond, 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers.' Advertisement 'The Way We Were''s Oscar win in 1974 capped a three Oscar night for the song's composer, From left, Ralph Carter, Esther Rolle, John Amos, Jimmie Walker, and BernNadette Stanis in a scene from "Good Times." CBSAlso in 1974, the Bergmans wrote the famous theme song to the Chicago sitcom, 'Good Times,' with Dave Grusin. The trio had previously collaborated on Donny Hathaway's ' If that wasn't confusing enough, 'Good Times' is saddled with and one of those lyrics (the one after 'scratchin' and survivin'') is practically unintelligible. I recall reading an article where Alan provided the lyric that's been misheard for the past 50 years. You can look it up, because I don't believe him! Grusin was also part of the Bergmans's biggest Oscar year, in 1983. He wrote the music for 'It Might be You' from 'Tootsie,' one of the couple's three best song nominations that night. They were also up with John Williams for 'If We Were in Love,' from the atrocious Luciano Pavarotti movie, 'Yes, Giorgio.' Their third nod that evening was for ' Advertisement I admit it's a bit ironic for me to devote so much time to discussing an Oscar category whose choices are so bad that I wish it would be retired. But songwriters like Alan and Marilyn Bergman and their collaborators remind me why the category exists in the first place. Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
Mint
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Basic Instinct reboot in works with original writer Joe Eszterhas
Washington DC [US], July 20 (ANI): Paul Verhoeven's directorial 'Basic Instinct' is being rebooted. The 1992 erotic crime thriller will receive an updated spin, to be written by the original screenwriter, Joe Eszterhas, reported People. The film will be released with Scott Stuber's United Artists banner and Amazon MGM Studios. Directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, 'Basic Instinct' follows crime novelist Catherine Tramell (Stone) as she becomes implicated in the death of retired rock star Johnny Boz (Bill Cable), while embarking on a complicated relationship with the detective on her case (Douglas), reported by People. The film previously received a sequel in 2006 from a different writing and producing team, and the new film is intended to reboot the original. Stone could possibly return, as per the outlet. 'Basic Instinct' earned Academy Award nominations for its editing and original score at the time. In the 1990s, the film courted controversy for its depiction of an LGBTQ character as a dangerous killer at the tail end of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The criticism led to protests on the night Stone hosted Saturday Night Live to promote the movie, with protesters interrupting the actress's opening monologue, resulting in six arrests in Studio 8H, as per the outlet. "All these people are getting beat up and handcuffed right in front of me, and we went live," Stone recalled of the incident in 2024, adding, "I was doing this live monologue while they were beating up and handcuffing people at my feet," according to People. (ANI)
Express Tribune
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Is Margot Robbie about to get ‘Basic'? Steamy reboot fuels casting frenzy
Hollywood may be about to get a lot steamier, again. Margot Robbie is emerging as the clear fan favourite to lead a reboot of Basic Instinct, the 1992 erotic thriller that made Sharon Stone a household name. The new film, described as 'wild and orgasmic,' is being developed by Amazon MGM Studios' United Artists and already has the internet in a full-blown casting meltdown. With no official casting announced yet, speculation is reaching fever pitch online. Social media exploded when fans floated Robbie's name as the perfect modern Catherine Tramell. 'Remake it with Margot Robbie,' one user posted on X, echoing hundreds of similar sentiments. UK bookies have joined the fray, putting Robbie at 3/1 odds, just behind Florence Pugh at 2/1. Other contenders include Sydney Sweeney, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ana de Armas, and Jodie Comer. Adding fuel to the fire, original screenwriter Joe Eszterhas has signed a $4 million deal to write the reboot. Now 80, Eszterhas clapped back at ageist criticism with a statement that's as provocative as the project itself. 'The rumours of my cinematic impotence are exaggerated,' he said. 'My writing partner, the Twisted Little Man, is sky high up for this. He promises a wild and orgasmic ride.' The original Basic Instinct followed Michael Douglas as a detective entangled with sultry novelist Tramell, played with unforgettable menace by Stone. The film made over $350 million globally and featured one of the most iconic, and controversial, interrogation scenes in cinema history. With Margot Robbie's star only rising post-Barbie, fans are convinced she's the only one who can pull off the role with equal amounts of danger and allure. Whether she takes the plunge or not, the buzz is building, and this reboot is already one of the most anticipated (and lusted after) revivals of the decade.
