UPDATED: George Lucas: Maker of Films - Rare interview from 1971

Love him or hate him, at one point many of us thought George Lucas was the best thing in the world. Then came Jar Jar and things would never be the same.

Before a galaxy far, far away Lucas was just a young filmmaker making films any way he could. Quiet Earth found this excellent interview that Binary Bonsai dug up. Check out the Binary Bonsai site as they have lots of info on Lucas and the interview, however to introduce you to it here is a some of the background to it.

It is 1971, THX 1138 was released on March 11, American Zoetrope is spiraling towards certain doom, Lucas has become even more disillusioned with Hollywood than he was during his stint on McKenna’s Gold, and where exactly things go from here for the upstart and its members is all up in the air. And while American Zoetrope and Coppola had slowly started to cause waves — mostly due to THX’s failure as it were, though also because Coppola wasn’t afraid of touting American Zoetrope a state-of-the-art facility which could outmatch Hollywood, and that the company (and thus himself) was the future of filmmaking — Lucas was little more than a promising student who had made an obscure sci-fi film which opened small and died fast.

During the summer of ’71, as all of this is happening, Gene Youngblood interviewed the then 27-year-old Lucas for a Los Angeles-based educational TV station, KCET in an hour-long program called George Lucas: Maker of Films.

It is almost an hour long, but well worth a watch.

UPDATE: The original video on Vimeo was pulled but hopefully this new one should work.

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Sofia Coppola + Party Boy = Somewhere

Chris Pontius has signed on for a role in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Jackass star will play Sammy, best friend of the character played by Stephen Dorff, a decadent, bad-boy actor living at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood who begins to re-examine his life after a surprise visit from his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning).

Coppola, who wrote, directed and produced Marie Antoinette and Lost In Translation, is doing the same for Somewhere. Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Roos and Paul Rassam are executive producers on the American Zoetrope/Focus Features production.

No production date has been set.

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UPDATED: Nicolas Cage's greatest acting role ever

Thanks to krajczynski for sending me the link.

I must also point out that it is only now I realised I had always spelt Cage's first name as Nicholas when it should be spelt Nicolas. Sorry about that.

I wonder what he thinks of Tetro?

UPDATE: Looks like I was wrong. Maw commented on the original post and pointed out this little gem. Something that I'd never heard of. Be prepared for Cage's greatest acting role ever!

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Coppola talks about Tetro at Cannes

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Tetro - First 3 minutes of Coppola's new film

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Tetro - Trailer for Francis Ford Coppola's newest film

This is Coppola’s second film in the last 12 years, his first original screenplay since The Conversation, and is the movie is being billed as his most personal film yet. Based from memories and emotions from his early life, though totally fictional, Tetro is the “bittersweet story of two brothers, of family lost and found and the conflicts and secrets within a highly creative Argentine-Italian family.”

Fresh faced and naive, 17-year-old Bennie arrives in Buenos Aires to search for his older brother who has been missing for more than a decade. The family had emigrated from Italy to Argentina, but with the great musical success of their father Carlo, an acclaimed symphony conductor, the family moved from Argentina to New York. When Bennie finds his brother, the volatile and melancholy poet Tetro, he is not at all what he expected. In the course of staying with Tetro and his girlfriend Miranda, the two brothers grapple with the haunting experiences of their shared past.

Tetro starring Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich, Maribel Verdu, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Carmen Maura.

Tetro opens June 11, 2009.

What did you think of that? Is Coppola back on track?

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Classic Scene: The Godfather - Louis' Restaurant Scene

A meeting is arranged between Virgil Sollozzo {Al Lettieri} and the Corleones with the agreement that both parties conform in a public venue.

*After exchanging several words with Sollozzo, Michael {Al Pacino} excuses himself and asks permission to go to the bathroom.

Michael retrieves a previously planted revolver and returns to the table.
Approximately 33 seconds- 4:57 / 5:30 -of mounting tensity pass before Michael suddenly rises out of his chair and assassinates Sollozzo and then Captain McCluskey {Sterling Hayden}.

To this day, my heart races with nervous anticipaction (especially hearing the rising sound of screeching rails from an approaching El-Train in the background) while viewing this classic and memorable movie moment.

*For those of you who are curious as to what words were exchanged between Sollozzo and Michael, here is a loose, general translation.

SOLLOZZO: "I'm sorry..."

MICHAEL: "Leave it alone." ( or ) "Forget about it."

SOLLOZZO: "What happened to your father was business. I have much respect for your father. But your father, his thinking is old-fashioned. You must understand why I had to do that."

MICHAEL: "I understand those things..."

[Waiter brings McCluskey's veal, then exits.]

SOLLOZZO: "Now let's work through where we go from here."

MICHAEL: "How do you say... ?" [Then Michael returns to speaking English.]

[After Michael returns from the bathroom]

SOLLOZZO: "Everything all right? I respect myself, understand, and cannot allow another man to hold me back. What happened was unavoidable. I had the unspoken support of the other Family dons. If your father were in better health, without his eldest son running things, no disrespect intended, we wouldn't have this nonsense. We will stop fighting until your father is well and can resume bargaining. No vengeance will be taken. We will have peace, but your Family should interfere no longer." - SunnyDownSnuff

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