Movies

Ennio Morricone didn't approve of the graphic scenes in 'Django Unchained'.
The prolific composer and conductor wrote the soundtrack to the award-winning movie, directed by Quentin Tarantino, but admitted he wasn't pleased by a gruesome plot in the 2012 film, and ordered the 51-year-old filmmaker to remove it.
Speaking in the spring/summer The Big Black Book issue of the UK's Esquire magazine, he said: "In 'Django Unchained', there's that sequence where a dog attacks and eats a man. That was too much. I sent a message to Quentin Tarantino and told him that was too strong."
However the scene remained in the movie, and added to Ennio's disappointment about the placement of his music, which he has previously admitted made him decide never to work with him again.
He said he "wouldn't like to work with him again, on anything," adding he "places music in his films without coherence" and "you can't do anything with someone like that".
And the 86-year-old star revealed in 2013 he had stuck to his promise, but his refusal to work with the star meant he used one of the tracks he had previously penned.
He added: "He said last year he wanted to work with me again ever since 'Inglourious Basterds', but I told him I couldn't, because he didn't give me enough time. So he just used a song I had written previously."

Will Ferrell has "no sense" of how successful his movies will be.
The 47-year-old actor insists stars who claim they knew their work would bomb or be a box office smash are "lying" because there are a number of random factors to consider.
Asked if he has an idea of how his work will fare, he said: "Sadly no. I have still no sense whatsoever. My barometer hasn't gotten any sharper.
"I think anyone who says they know right away, they're lying.
"When you see the edited film, you just have to feel, 'We made something that feels different, fresh and new and it has a strong point of view.' It's up to the gods at that point.
"You never know when a movie is going to hit the zeitgeist for whatever reason, whether it's release date, what's out there at the same time, are people in the mood to see a comedy at a certain point? All those factors you really aren't in control of. I don't feel like my gauge is sharpened in any way."
The 'Get Hard' actor believes the most important thing to consider with his movies is whether making them "feels good" or not.
He told the Independent newspaper's Radar magazine: "We did this movie 'Casa de Mi Padre' which was entirely in Spanish. That is an example of, 'Really! An American comedy star does an entire movie in Spanish, who doesn't speak Spanish, and all the studios go, 'Hmmm... we don't know how to distribute it.' That's one where you go, 'That seems weird especially when a lot of the statistics say the Hispanic audience is one of the largest movie-going audiences in America.' You just have to feel good about what you're making and truck along."

Sir Ian McKellen doesn't think he's "top choice" for directors.
The 'Lord of the Rings' actor admits there are many movies he would have loved to have starred in but was never approached by the filmmakers.
He said: "I don't think I'm top choice. In theatre - for Shakespeare - I'm quite near the top, but not for all directors.
"In film I'm way, way down.
"Spielberg's never asked to work with me, Tarantino has never asked, Sam Mendes has never asked.
"It isn't as if there's a long list of films I've turned down but there are plenty I wish I'd had a go at. That's the truth."
The 75-year-old actor admitted he finds it harder to learn lines now because the lure of the Internet is so distracting.
Speaking to Esquire's Big Black Book magazine, he said: "How do I kill time? Oh don't. F***ing Internet.
"I've always loved Dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Now you get all that on your computer. It's fantastic.
"You're looking up something about Dickens and you're invited to explore more and more and more.
"I don't know if that's wasting time or not but it doesn't help me to learn lines."

Holliday Grainger thinks less attention should be paid to what actresses look like.
The 26-year-old stage and screen star - who appears alongside Lily James in the new Disney movie of the classic fairy tale 'Cinderella' - says it's a "shame" people judge female performers by their appearance rather than their talent.
Responding to claims her co-star's waist was photoshopped in the film, Holliday told BANG Showbiz at last night's (19.03.15) London premiere in Leicester Square: "Lily's got a small waist - what is she going to do about it? The corsets make it look smaller.
"I think the movie is so much about what's on the inside is what matters - and who you are as a person.
"I just think it's a shame. Really, there are lots of strong female leads and we're focusing on what they're wearing and what they look like."
The remarks came shortly after Lily, 25, urged people to show more interest in Cinderella's morals than her waist.
She said: "Why on earth are we focusing on something so irrelevant?
"I've had friends' kids and a little boy called Daniel, who's nine, who said 'it's amazing how you promised your mum to be kind and good and you remembered it'. That's the message [of the movie]."

Russell Crowe's eight-year-old son was convinced not to join the army after watching 'The Water Diviner'.
The actor - who stars as an Australian farmer who travels to Turkey to find his three missing sons after the Battle of Gallipoli - says his new movie had a profound impact on his son Tennyson, causing him to rethink his career plans.
The 50-year-old star said his son told him: "Dad, we're not joining the army any more."
Previous to that, however, Tennyson said that "after university, I'm going to do a couple of battles" and speculated that a soldier might be paid "a million".
But Russell is thrilled that the movie - which also stars Olga Kurylenko - has convinced his son to consider the pitfalls of war and change his attitude completely.
He told The Times newspaper: "The entire effort of three years of making the movie is worth it just to have put that in my son's heart."
Meanwhile, Russell - who also has an 11-year-old son, Charles - recently said having children has changed his outlook on life.
He said: "Once you have children everything you do and how you see the world is done through the prism of having kids."

Sir Kenneth Branagh thinks he's living proof that normal people can make it in the film industry.
The 54-year-old star - who directed Disney's romantic fantasy film 'Cinderella' - thinks that although there are obstacles standing in the way of aspiring performers from less privileged backgrounds, his career is evidence that it can be done.
Speaking last night (19.03.15) at the London premiere of his new movie, Sir Kenneth told BANG Showbiz: "I'm just a normal working-class boy from Belfast [in Northern Ireland].
"I went to a comprehensive school - I didn't go to university - and I'm standing here. I think there have always been challenges about funding and all the rest of it, and they all have to be looked at all the time. But it need not be [a hindrance]."
Sir Kenneth also said his take on the classic fairy tale should give people something to aspire towards, as Cinderella - played by Lily James - is a more relatable character than most on-screen characters.
He added: "You can be like her without having to fire a gun or an arrow. You can learn from the inside that there's something else to aspire to. As someone once said to me and it applies to Cinderella, never mistake her kindness for weakness."

Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey have been cast in new dystopian movie 'The Bad Batch'.
The duo have been cast alongside Suki Waterhouse, Diego Luna and Jason Momoa in the Ana Lily Amirpour-directed film, which is a cannibal love story set in a post-apocalyptic Texas wasteland.
The film's lead, Miami Man, is played by Momoa, while Waterhouse will play female lead Arien.
Reeves and Carrey will play The Dream and The Hermit respectively, according to TheWrap.
Reeves' casting in the new movie comes shortly after it was revealed that he "started watching the earliest cuts" of 'Bill & Ted 3' more than 12 months ago.
The third instalment of the comedy franchise has been years in the making, and according to Reeves' co-star Alex Winter - who played Bill S. Preston Esq. in the original movies - it is close to a reality.
Speaking of his co-star - who appeared as Ted 'Theodore' Logan - Winter said: "He started watching the earliest cuts of this movie a year ago, and was just super into it.
"It's really funny, because I asked him and I could tell he was waiting for me to ask. Because he was like, 'Yeah. Duh.'"

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is to star in the 'Fraggle Rock' movie.
Jim Henson's hit 1980s children's TV show about a group of carefree creatures known as Fraggles who live in caves beneath a lighthouse is finally being turned into a film
The 'Inception' actor has committed to be the lead star and is also set to work as a producer on the movie, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Joseph has admitted 'Fraggle Rock' was one of his favourite ever shows and he is confident he and producer Lisa Henson - the CEO of The Jim Henson Company and the late puppeteer's daughter - can do the series and Jim proud.
In a statement, Joseph said: "The first screen personas I ever loved were Henson creations, first on 'Sesame Street', and then on 'Fraggle Rock'. Jim Henson's characters make you laugh and sing, but they're also layered, surprising, and wise. From Oscar the Grouch, to Yoda, to the Fraggles. I've never stopped loving his work, even as a young frisky man, and on into adulthood. Collaborating with Lisa Henson makes me confident we can do something that Jim would have loved."
The news is a huge boost to the project which has been in development since 2006.

Common says a simple misunderstanding caused him to shun a high-five from Oprah Winfrey at the Academy Awards.
The rapper-turned-actor won the award for Best Original Song for 'Glory' - his collaboration with John Legend - but failed to celebrate the moment with 'Selma' producer Oprah because he was too caught up in the moment.
Recalling the moment - which caused a buzz on social media - Common said: "Oprah had her hand up to give me a clap - I thought she was giving John a clap so I went past her hand and went to [Selma actor] David Oyelowo. They created a big hype about it. Oprah is someone who I love dearly so I have nothing but reverence for her.
"I talked to her the next day and I don't think she even knew that happened. This is a billion-dollar woman! Do you think she cares if I walked a little past her? But it wasn't done on purpose!"
Meanwhile, the 43-year-old star - who's appeared in 'American Gangster' and alongside Liam Neeson in 'Run All Night' - also revealed his desire to take on more challenging acting roles.
He told The Independent newspaper: "I wanna strive to be a great actor and take roles on that nobody would expect me to play and that may have been written for a whole type of other human being.
"When I look at the actors that I've loved - whether it's Sean Penn or Philip Seymour Hoffman - these people can go anywhere."